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" The gifted American artist, Mr. James E. Freeman, who has for many 
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volume a number of sketches of the noted men of letters, painters, sculptors, 
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study during the practice of his profession abroad. Anecdotes and remi- 
niscences of Thackeray, Hans Christian Andersen, John Gibson, Vernet, 
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HOME amuseme:nts. 



By MT W wTs.-'K''^ 

AUTHOR (JF AMEjqiTIES OF DOME," ETC. 



' There be some sports are painfal ; and their labour 
Delight in them sets off." 

•Tc elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves ; 
And ye that on the sands vyith printless foot 
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him, 
"When he comes back ! " 

1 do invoke ye all. 



NEW TOEK: 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

1, 3, AND 5 BOND STEEET. 
1881. 






COPYRIGHT ET 

D. APPLETON Kmi COMPAKT, 

1S81. 



Afmy and N; V' ^i '.b 
May 27, 1929 



OOIsTTEI^TS. 



PAGE 

I. — Peefatoet ...... 5 

II. — The Gaeeet . . . , . 7 

III. — PeITATE TnEATEIOALS, ETC. .... 9 

IV. — Tableaux Vivants .... 20 

V. — Beain Games . . . . , .25 

VI. — FORTUNE-TELLINa ..... 37 

VII. — Amusements foe a Eaint Day . . .45 

VIII. — Embeoideey and othee Decoeative Aets . 50 

IX. — ^ETCHiNa . . . . . .64 

X. — Lawn Tennis . ' .' . . . 67 

XL — Gaeden Pasties . . ' ". . . 77 

XII. — Dancing . .:*-' r . . . 86 

XIII. — Gaedens and Plowee-Stands . . .93 

XIV. — Caged Bieds and Aviaeies . . . 104 

XV.— Picnics 112 

XVI. — Plating with Fiee. Ceeamics . . . 117 

XVIL— Aecheet ...... 124 

XVIII. — Amusements for the Middle-Aged and the Aged 131 
XIX.— The Paeloe . . . . . .135 

XX.— The Kitchen ..... 140 

XXI. — The Family Hoese and othee Pets . . 144 

XXII. — In Conclusion ..... 148 



HOME AMUSEMENTS. 



PEEFATOEY. 

G-OETHE, in " Wilhelm Meister," struck the key-note of 
the universal underlying dramatic instinct. The boy be- 
gins to play the drama of life with his puppets, and after- 
ward exploits the wild dreams of youth in the company of 
the strolling players. We are, indeed, all actors. We all 
know how early the strutting soldier-instinct crops out, 
and how soon the little girl assumes the cares of the ama- 
teur nursery. 

" I have learned from neighbor Nelly 
"What the gui's doll-instinct means." 

We begin early to play at liying, until Life becomes too 
strong for us, and, seizing us in merciless and severe grip, 
returns our condescension by making of us the puppets 
with which the passing tragedy or comedy is presented. 
With this idea in mind we have begun our little book with 
the play in the garret — the humblest attempt at histrionics 
— and so going on, still endeavoring to help those more 
ambitious artists who, in remote and secluded spots, may 
essay to amuse themselves and others by attempting the 



6 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

role of a Cushman, a Wallack, a Sothern, a Booth, or a 
Gilbert. 

Our subsequent task has been a more difficult one. To 
tell people how to give all sorts of entertainments — in fact, 
to tell our intelligent people how to do anything — is nearly 
as foolish a practice as to carry coals to Newcastle, and im- 
plies that sort of conceit which Thackeray so wittily sug- 
gests when, in his ''Eebecca and Eowena," he presents 
the picture of a little imp painting the lily. It is hard to 
know where to draw the line. It would be delightful to 
amuse— to help along with the great business of making 
home happy — to tell a mother what to do with her active 
young brood, and yet to avoid that dreadful bore of men- 
tioning to her something which she already knows a great 
deal better than we do. 

The Scylla of barrenness and the Charybdis of garrulity 
are before any author who tries to speak upon a familiar 
theme. Let us hope that, through the kindness of our 
readers, we may not have wrecked our little bark on either. 



THE GAEEET. 

Happy the children who have inherited a garret ! We 
mean the good old country garret, wherein have been 
stowed away the accumulations of many generations of 
careful housewives. The more worthless these accumula- 
tions, the better for the children. An old aunt who saved 
all the old bonnets, an. old uncle who had a wardrobe of 
cast-off garments to which he had appended the legend, 

" Too poor to wear, too good to give away — " 

these are the purveyors to the histrionic talents of nations 
yet unborn. Old garrets are really the factories of His- 
tory, Poetry, and the Drama. 

Into such a garret crept the lame little Walter Scott, 
and what did he not bring out of it ! Talk of the lumber 
of a garret and the accumulations of a house, and you men- 
tion to the thoughtful the gold and diamond mines of a 
future literature. A bright boy or girl will unearth many 
a pearl of price from those old trunks, those dilapidated 
bureau-drawers, those piles of old love-letters, those gar- 
ments of the past, that broken-down guitar, that stringless 
violin, that too-reedy flute. The taste for old furniture 
has rather emptied the garret of its time-honored chairs 
and old clocks, but there is still in its ghost-haunted cor- 
ners quite enough goblin tapestry for the fancy of the 
growing child. 



8 EOME AMUSEMENTS. 

A country home is, of course, tlie most precious posses- 
sion a child can have — a country home in which his ances- 
tors have lived for years, and which has a large garret, a 
capacious cellar, and several barns. One might wish that 
every child might be born in Salem or Plymouth, or near 
one of those old settlements. But as that would be quite 
impossible, considering the acres which we are compelled 
to cover as a nation, we may as well see what can be done, 
in the way of Home Amusements, with the garret as well 
as the parlor. The garret, in both town and country, has 
been the earliest home of the legitimate drama since the 
first youthful aspirant for histrionic honors strapped on the 
sock and buskin. A good country barn has also been 
sometimes the scene not only of the strolling but of the 
resident player. 



III. 

.PEIVATE THEATEIOALS; ACTING PEO VERBS 
AND CHAEADES. 

"Wheeeyee the amateur actor pitches his tent or erects 
his stage, he must consider wisely the extraneous space be- 
hind the acting arena necessary for his exits and entrances, 
and his theatrical properties. In an ordinary house the 
back parlor, with two doors opening into the dining-room, 
makes an ideal theatre 5 for the exits can be masked, and 
the space is specially useful. One door opening into a 
large hall is absolutely necessary, if no better arrangement 
can be made. The best stage is, of course, like that of a 
theatre, with areas all around and behind it, so that the 
actors haye a space to retire into. This is difficult in a 
parlor, unless it be a very large one. The difficulty, how- 
eyer, has been and will be solved by the ingenious. Draw- 
ing up the big sofa in front of the footlights, and. arranging 
a pair of screens and a curtain, has often served well for a 
parlor play. 

It is hardly necessary to say that all these arrangements 
for a play depend, in the first place, on the requirements 
of the play itself and its legitimate business, which may 
demand a table, a bureau, a piano, a fireplace, etc. And 
here we would say to the youthful actor. Select your play 
at first with a view to its requiring little change of scene, 
and not much furniture. A young actor needs space ; he 
is embarrassed by too many chairs and tables. Then, again. 



10 EOME AMUSEMENTS. 

choose a play which lias so much varied incident in it that 
it will, as it is said, "play itself." Of this branch of our 
subject we will treat later. 

The first thing to be built is the stage. Any carpenter 
will lay a few stout boards on end-pieces, which are simply 
squared joists, and for yery little money will take away the 
boards and joists afterward ; or a permanent stage can be 
built for a few dollars. Sometimes ingenious boys build 
their own stage with old boxes ; but this is apt to be dan- 
gerous. Very few families are without an old carpet, which 
will serve for a stage-covering ; and, if this is lacking, green 
baize is very cheap. A whole stage-fitting — curtains and 
all — can be made of green cambric ; but it is better to have 
all the stuffs of woolen, for the danger from fire is other- 
wise great. Footlights may be made of tin, with pieces of 
candle put in ; or a row of old bottles of equal height, with 
candles stuck in the mouth, make a most admirable and 
very cheap set of footlights. The mother, an elder brother, 
or some one with judgment, should see to all these things, 
or the play may be spoiled by an accident. 

The curtain is always a trouble. A light wooden frame 
should be made by the carpenter ; firm at the joints, 
and as high as the stage, to the front part of which it 
should be attached. This frame forms three sides of a 
square, and the curtain must be firmly nailed to the top- 
piece. A stiff wire should be run along the lower edge of 
the curtain, and a number of rings be attached to the back 
of it in squares — three rows of four rings each, extending 
from top to bottom. Three cords are now fastened to the 
wire, and, passing through the rings, are run over three 
pulleys on the upper piece of the frame. It is well for all 
young managers of garret theatres to get uj) one of these 
curtains, even if they have to hire an upholsterer to help 
them. The draw-curtain never works surely, and often 
hurts the denoumenf of the play. In the case of the drop- 



PRIVATE THEATRICALS, ETC. 11 

curtain wliicli we haye described, one person holds all the 
ends of the cords, tied together ; and, on pulling this, the 
curtain goes up and down as if by magic, and rarely gets 
out of order, which is a great gain. 

Now as for stage properties. Almost any household, 
or any self-respecting garret, will hold enough of " things." 
If it does not, let the young actors exercise their ingenuity 
in making up, with tinsel-paper and other cheap material, 
all that they will want. Turnips, properly treated with a 
jackknife, have heretofore served for Yorick's skull in the 
great play of " Hamlet." A boy who knows how to paint 
can, on a white cotton background, with a pot of common 
black paint, indicate a scene. If he be so fortunate as to 
know a kindly theatrical manager who will let him for 
once go behind the scenes, he will find that the most splen- 
did effects are gained by a very small outlay. 

As for the theatrical wardrobe, that is a very easy mat- 
ter, if the children have an indulgent and tasteful mother, 
who will help a little and lend her old finery. 

A brigand's costume (and brigands are very convenient 
theatrical friends) is easily arranged. Procure a black felt 
hat, fastened up with a shoe-buckle ; a bow and a long 
feather ; a jacket, on which Fanny will sew some brass 
buttons ; one of mamma's or sister's gay scarfs, tied round 
the waist several times ; an old pair of pantaloons, cut off 
at the knee, and long stockings, tied up with scarlet rib- 
bons ; a pair of pumps, with another pair of buckles, and 
any old pair of pistols, dirks, or even carving-knives, stuck 
in the belt, and you have, at very small expense, a fierce 
brigand of the Abruzzi. 

Girls' dresses are still easier of attainment. But the 
great trouble in the dressing of girls for their characters is 
the frequent inattention to the time and style of the char- 
acter. A young lady who plays the part of Marie Antoi- 
nette must remember the enormous hoops which were a 



12 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

part of the costume of the unlucky queen. She must not 
be content to merely powder her hair. She must remem- 
ber time, place, circumstance, and dress herself accurately, 
if she wishes to produce a proper dress. A lady once wore 
in the part of Helen of Troy, for private theatricals in New 
York, a pair of high-heeled French slippers, with the clsi's,- 
&\c peplum. A gentleman of archaeological tastes declared 
that he could not stay in a house where such crimes were 
committed against historical accuracy ! She should have 
worn the classic sandal, of course — not modern black slip- 
pers. 

The '^ make-up" of a character requires study and ob- 
servation. In the painting and shading of faces, adapta- 
tion of wigs, application of mustaches and whiskers, there 
is much to be done. A box of water-colors, a little chalk, 
camel's-hair pencils, a saucer of rouge, a burnt cork, and 
some India ink, all are useful. If these can not be got, one 
burnt cork, aided by a little flour, will do it all. Mus- 
taches can be made by borrowing mamma's old discarded 
artificial curls, cutting them ofE to a proper length, and 
gumming them on the upper lip. The hair of a good old 
Newfoundland dog has served this purpose. A very pretty 
little mustache can be painted with India ink. However, 
if near a barber or a hair-dresser — or, still better, a cos- 
tumer — it is well to get ready-made mustaches, which come 
of all colors, already gummed. If the make-up of an old 
man is required, study a picture of an old face, and trace 
on your own face with a camel's-hair pencil and India ink 
the wrinkles, the lines of an aged countenance. Make 
a wig of white cotton if you can not hire one of gray 
hair. 

If a comic face is needed, stand before a glass and grin, 
watch the lines which the grin leaves, and trace them up 
with a reddish-brown water-color. Put on rouge particu- 
larly about the nose and eyes. A frown, a smile, a sneer. 



PRIVATE TEEATBIGAL8, ETC. 13 

a simper, or a sad expression, can always be painted by 
this process. The gayest face can be made sad by drop- 
ping a line or two from the corners of the mouth and of 
the eyes. 

For a ferocious brigand, cork the eyebrows heavily, and 
bring them together over the eyes. If you wish to produce 
emaciation or leanness, cork under the eyes, and in the hol- 
low of the cheek (or make a hollow), and under the lower 
lip. To make up a pretty girl, even out of a young man's 
face, requires only some rouge and chalk and a blonde wig. 
There should be also a powdering about the eyebrows, ears, 
and roots of the hair. There should be a heavy coat of 
powder on the nose, and after the rouge is put on, a shower 
of powder over that. All will wash off without hurting 
the complexion. For a drunkard or a villain, purple spots 
are painted on chin, cheek, forehead, and nose. 

The theatrical wardrobe, to be complete, should have 
several different wigs, and as these can not be made well 
except by an artist in hair, we recommend the actors to lay 
out all their spare cash on these adjuncts. Having dressed 
for the part, the acting comes much more easily. No one 
knows the effect of dress better than the real actor, who 
calls it "the skin of the part." 

The lines to be spoken should be committed most 
thoroughly to memory. Without this no play can be a 
success. Each performer should write out his own part, 
with the "cues," or the words which come directly before 
his own speeches, and commit the whole to memory. 
When the performer hears the words of the cue, the words 
of his own part come to his lips immediately. 

The exits and entrances, and what is known as " stage 
business," are always difi&cult to beginners. The necessity 
of closets, etc., in a small stage, places to retire to, and the 
like, can be managed, however, by screens, and these are 
so useful in all private theatricals that one should be made. 



14: HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

six feet higli by three feet wide, hinged, and covered with 
wall-paper, before any plays dire attempted. 
t We are describing the very cheapest and most unsophis- 
Iticated private theatricals — such as those which school-boys 
and girls could get up in the country, or in a city basement 
or garret, with very little money or help from their parents. 
And these are the ones which give the most pleasure. Ex- 
pensive and adroitly-conducted theatricals, in a city where 
experts can be hired to do these things, have no lasting 
charm. It is, as in all other things, the amount of our- 
selves which we put into anything which makes us enjoy 
private theatricals. And in a city, grown people have the 
privilege of the best theatricals, beside which all amateur 
efforts are lamentably tame. But a party of fresh young 
people, full of the ichor of youth, can with the slightest 
hel|) produce the most delightful effects with very simple 
means. 

Young girls are too apt, in playing private theatricals, 
to sacrifice character to prettiness. Now this is a fatal 
mistake. To dress a part with finikin fineness, which is 
to be a representation of quite different sorts of qualities, is 
poor art. Let them rather imitate Miss Cushman's rags in 
Meg Merrilies, or Bastian Le Page's homely peasant sim- 
plicity in Joan of Arc. Remember, the drama is the mir- 
ror of nature, and should produce its strong outlines and 
its deep shadows. It is in this realism that men surpass 
women. The college theatricals, in which all parts are 
played by men, are by far the best. 

In selecting a play, amateurs should try and find one, 
as we have said, which "plays itself." They should not 
attempt those delicate and very difficult plays which only 
great artists can make amusing. They should select the 
play which is full of action and situation, like " The Fol- 
lies of a Night," or "Everybody's Friend." The most 
commonplace actors fail to spoil such plays as these ; and 



PRIVATE THEATRICALS, ETC. 15 

there are for younger performers hundreds of good plays, 
farces, and musical burlesques to be found at every "book- 
store. " !N"aval Engagements/' "A Cure for the Fidgets/' 
"The Two Buzzards/' " Betsey Baker/' "Box and Cox/' 
"AEegular Fix/' " Incomj)atibility of Temper," "Ici I'on 
j)arle Frangais/' " To oblige Benson/' are among the many 
which really help the amateur, instead of crushing him. 

But no one who is not a first-rate actor should attempt 
"Two can play at that Game," "A Morning Call," "A 
Happy Pair," or any of those beautiful French trifles which 
look so easy, and in the hands of good actors are so charm- 
ing, for they depend upon the most delicate shades of act- 
ing to make them even passable . 

For those players of a larger growth, who attempt the 
very interesting business of amateur theatricals on a more 
ambitious plane, we can illustrate our meaning as to plays 
which "play themselves" by two instances : 

" Ici Ton parle Fran9ais" gives the two amusing situa- 
tions of a man who is trying to speak French with the aid 
of a phrase-book, and the counterpoise of a Frenchman who 
is trying to speak English in the same fragmentary manner. 
Their mutual mistakes keep the house in a roar ; and al- 
most any clever pair of young men can assume these two 
characters to great advantage. They each have an eccen- 
tric character mapped out for them, and very little shad- 
ing is necessary. 

Again, for a very much more poetical and entirely dif- 
ferent range of part, but yet one which "plays itself," we 
would suggest "Pygmalion and Calatea," Gilbert's beauti- 
ful and poetical play. Here we have the great novelty of a 
young lady disguised as a marble statue. She can be 
"made up" with white powder and white merino drapery 
to look very like a marble statue, and a powerful white 
lime-light should be thrown on her from above. There is 
a tableau within a play to begin with, and something novel 



16 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

and interesting. The marble statue, however, at the very 
start becomes endowed with life, steps down from her ped- 
estal, walks forward to the footlights, talks, and receives 
the homage of a lover. Now, almost any pretty and intel- 
ligent maiden can make this part very interesting. She 
needs nothing but grace and a good memory to do this 
Galatea well. The part plays itself. 

The same young actress could not do Lady Teazle — that 
delightful and intricate bit of acting, so dependent upon 
stage tradition and stage training that old theatre-goers say 
that in fifty years only five actresses have done it well. 
Still less could she approach the heroine in the '^ Morning 
Call" or the young wife in " Caste." These parts demand 
the long, severe stage training of an accomplished artist. 
The Galatea is assisted by the novelty of the position, by 
the fact that every young maid is a marble statue, in one 
sense, until Love makes her a woman, so that each joerson 
may give a strikingly individual portrait ; and, above all, it 
is a play which is a new creation, and therefore capable of 
a new interpretation. 

We do not advise amateurs to undertake Shakespeare, 
unless it be "Katherine and Petruchio," which is so gay 
and scolding that 'it almost plays itself. 

The very beautiful comedies of Eobertson seem very 
easy when one sees Mr. Wallack's company play them ; but 
they are very difficult for amateurs. They depend upon 
the most delicate shading, the highest art, and the neat- 
est finish. 

The sterling old comedies — all excepting " The Eivals" 
— are almost impossible, even those which are full of inci- 
dent and full of costume. Their quick movement seems 
to evade the player ; and what is so terrible to the listener 
as to endure even a second's suspension in the "give and 
take" of a comedy? "The Eivals," strange to say, is a 
very good play for amateurs. 



PRIVATE THEATRICALS, ETC. 17 

Boucicault's farces and society plays run very well on 
the amateur stage. Lady Gay Sijanker is not a difficult 
part. Bulwer's "Lady of Lyons" should never be attempt- 
ed by amateurs. It becomes mawkishly sentimental in 
their hands. But Charles Eeade's " Still Waters run 
Deep "is excellent for amateurs; and "Money "runs off 
rather more easily than one would suppose. 

Amateurs are very fond of "A Wonderful Woman," 
but we can not see much in it. "The Wonder" is very 
picturesque. It is one of the plays which plays itself ; and 
the SjDanish costumes are beautiful. The famous comedies, 
"My Awful Dad," " Woodcock's Little Game," and "The 
Liar," should be studied very thoroughly by observation 
and by book before being attempted by amateurs. The 
" Little Game" has two very hard parts to fill, Mrs. Colo- 
nel Carver and Woodcock ; still it has been done moderately 
well. For a parlor comedy, "The Happy Pair" is a great 
favorite; and "Box and Cox" can be done by anybody, 
and is always funny. Music helps along wonderfully, as 
witness the immortal " Pinafore," which has been played 
by amateurs to admiration for hundreds of admiring audi- 
ences. 

A stage manager is indispensable. In getting up am- 
bitious plays in a city, which the courageous amateur some- 
times attempts, an actor from the theatre is generally hired 
to "coach" the neophytes. In the country, some intel- 
ligent friend should do this, and he can properly be arbi- 
trary. It is a case for an absolute monarchy. The stage 
manager must hear his company read the play over first, 
and tell John faithfully if he is better fitted for the part of 
the lackey rather than that of the lover. He must disabuse 
Seraphina of the belief that she either looks or can play the 
ingenu, and relegate her to the part of the housekeeper. 
We all have our natural and acquired capabilities for vari- 
ous parts, and can do no other. 



HOME AMUSEMENTS. 



Then, after reading tlie part, comes the rehearsal ; and 
this is the crucial test. The players must study, rehearse, 
rehearse, study, and not be discouraged if they grow worse 
rather than better. There is always a part lagging, and 
the dress rehearsal is in variably a discouraging thing. But 
that is a most excellent and adyantageous discouragement 
if it inspire the actors to new efEorts. Nothing can spoil 
a priyate theatrical attempt like conceit and self-satisfac- 
tion. The art is as difficult a one as playing on the yiolin ; 
and, although an amateur may learn to play pretty well, the 
distance between him and a professional is as great as that 
between an amateur yiolinist and Vieuxtemps. The ama- 
teur must remember this fact. 

" Acting proyerbs " is an ingenious way of suggesting 
an idea by its component parts rather than stating it out- 
right. The parts are not written, but merely talked oyer, 
and are often done by cleyer young people on the spur of 
the moment. It is well, however, to consult beforehand 
as to the argument of the play. The books are full of little 
plays written upon such proverbs as "All is not Gold that 
Glitters," ''Honor among Thieves," ''All is Fair in Love 
and War," etc. But we advise young people to take up 
less well-known proverbs, and to write their own plays. 
They might learn one or two as a sort of exercise, but the 
fresh outcrop of their own originality will be much better. 
The same may be said with the acting of charades. 

A dramatic charade is a very ingenious thing, and a 
very neat little play in four acts can be made from the 
word Ab-di-cate. A B, of course, presents a school scene. 
And at a watering place, if some witty man or woman will 
represent the schoolmaster or schoolmistress, all the pupils 
can be the grown men and women who are well known. 
The entran'ce of a fashionable mamma, her instantaneous 
effect on the severity of the teacher, the taking off the fool's- 
cap from the head of Master Tommy, who has been in dis- 



PBIVATE TEEATBIGALS, ETC. 19 

grace — all will cause laughter and an opportunity for local 
jokes. This is Act I. Di can be represented by the dye- 
ing process of a barber who has to please many customers ; 
or '"The die is cast" ; or an apposite allusion to Walter 
Scott's " Die Vernon " ; or some comico-tragico scene of " I 
can but die.^' This is Act II. Gate, to " cater,'" " Kate " 
— for bad spelling is permitted — all these are in order. 
This is Act III. The last act can be the splendid pageant 
of a Turkish Abdication, in which a sultan abdicates in 
favor of his son. All the camel's-hair shawls, brilliant tur- 
bans, and jewelry of the house and neighborhood can here 
be introduced with effect. 

Charades in which negroes, Irish or German people, or 
anybody with a dialect, enter in and form a part, are very 
amusing if the boys of the family have a genius for mim- 
icry. Amateur minstrels are very funny. The getting up 
of a party of white men as black men is, however, at- 
tended with expense. The gift of singing a comic song is 
highly appreciated in the family circle of amateur drama- 
tists, and a little piece with songs is very sure to be accept- 
able. 

If every member of the party will do what he can, 
without any false shame, or any egotistical desire to outdo 
the others, if the ready-witted will do what they can to 
help the slow-going, and if the older members of the fam- 
ily will help along, these amusements will cheer many a 
winter's evening, many a long rainy week, and will improve 
all who are connected with them ; for memory and elocu- 
tion, good manners and a graceful bearing, are all included 
in the playing of charades, proverbs, and the little dramas. 



IV. 

TABLEAUX VIVANTS. 

We now come to one of the most artistic of all Home 
Amusements — the ToMeau vivant. 

Lady Hamilton amused the people of her age, all over 
Europe, by playing in a parlor very striking living pic- 
tures. All she asked was a corner of the room, a heavy 
curtain behind her, and a few shawls and turbans. Being 
a beautiful and graceful woman, with the dramatic in- 
stinct, she gave imitations of celebrated statues and pic- 
tures, and was no doubt aided by some very ingenious 
painting, which she knew how to apply to her own fair 
face. The art she discovered is certainly worth trying in 
the present age as an amusement. 

The preparations for good tableaux should be some- 
what elaborate. A vista should be built and lined with 
dark-colored cloth ; lights should fall from the io^, sides, 
and front, so as to avoid shadows. The groups should be 
striking, the colors clear, and the attitudes simple. Some- 
times there are such wonderful and unpremeditated effects 
from these living joictures that artists hold up their hands 
in despair ; more often they are ruined by shadows ; the 
lights are not well arranged, and the whole effect lacks ele- 
vation and meaning. It is difificult to arrange a crowded 
tableau, but it can be done. 

The principle of a picture — a pyramidal form — should 
be observed closely in tableau. To secure this desirable 



. TABLEAUX VIVANTS. 21 

object the persons in the background must stand on eleva- 
tions. Boxes covered with dark cloth, so as to be unnotice- 
able, are the best of all devices, and the effect of any object 
held up in the hand, as a scepter, a bird, a distaff, or a 
wreath, must be carefully noted, as it may throw a shadow 
on the picture in the background. There never was, or 
could be, a tableau which did not have some weak spot, 
and these shadows are the faults which most easily beguile ; 
but they can be avoided. 

A group of Puritans make into many very striking pic- 
tures. The costume is beautiful and becoming ; red cloth 
can be laid on the table or floor to set off the grays ; and 
the many picturesque incidents in our early history form 
very pleasing subjects. It is a beautiful dress for women 
and a dignified one for men — that gray dress and high ruff, 
that broad hat, and plain, long gown. A group of young 
people might take a winter's amusement out of reading up 
the Puritan annals, and giving at the Academy or in their 
own homes a series of Puritan tableaux. 

A tableau can be given in parlors separated by folding- 
doors ; but they are not by any means as good as those for 
which a stage, vista and footlights, flies and side-lights, are 
arranged. If there is a large unused room, where these 
properties can stand, the result is very much better. There 
should be a gauze curtain or one of black tarlatan, which 
should have no seams in it, and this curtain should hang 
in front of the stage all the time. The drop-curtain must 
be outside of this. The gauze curtain serves as a sort of 
varnish to the picture, and adds to the illusion. 

Although the pure white light of candles, gas, kerosene, 
or lime-light is the best for tableaux, very pretty effects are 
produced by the introduction of colored lights, such as can 
be produced by the use of nitrate of strontia, chlorate of 
potash, sulphuret of antimony, sulphur, oxymuriate of po- 
tassa, metallic arsenic, and pulverized charcoal. Muriate 



22 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

of copper makes a bluisli-green fire, and many other colors 
can be obtained by a little study of chemistry. Here are 
some simple recipes : 

To make a red fire. — Five ounces nitrate of strontia, 
dry, one and a half ounces finely-powdered sulphur. Take 
fiye drachms chlorate of potash and four drachms sulphuret \ 
of antimony and powder them separately in a mortar ; then : 
mix them on paper, and, having mixed the other ingre- 
dients, previously powdered, add these last, and rub the 
whole together on paper. In use, mix a little spirits of 
wine with the powder, and burn in a flat iron plate or pan. 

A green fire may be made by joowdering finely and mix- 
ing well thirteen parts flour of sulphur, five parts oxymu- 
riate of potassa, two laarts metallic arsenic, three parts 
pulverized charcoal, seventy-seven parts nitrate of baryta ; 
dry it carefully, powder, and mix the whole thoroughly. 
A polished reflector fitted on one side of the pan in which 
this is burned will concentrate the light and cast a brilliant 
green luster on the figures. A bluish-green fire may be 
produced by burning muriate of copjser finely powdered 
and mixed with spirits of wine. These fires smell unpleas- 
antly in the drawing-room ; and equally good effects may 
almost always be produced by colored globes, if the light 
is not needed too quickly. 

Sulphate of copper, when dissolved in water, will give a 
beautiful Uue color. The common red cabbage gives three 
colors. Slice the cabbage and pour boiling water on it ; 
when cold, add a small quantity of alum, and you have 
purple. Potash dissolved in the water will give a brilliant 
green. A few drops of muriatic acid will turn the cabbage- 
water into a crimson. 

Then, again, if a ghostly look be required, mix common 
salt with spirits of wine in a metal cup and set it upon a 
wire frame over a spirit-lamp. When the cup becomes 
heated, and the spirits of wine ignite, the other lights in 



TABLEAUX YIYANTS. 23 

the room should be extinguished, and that of the spirit- 
lamp shaded in some way. The result will be that the 
whole group will become like the witches in Macbeth, 

" That look not like the inhabitants of the earth, 
But yet are of it." 

This burning of common salt produces a very weird ef- 
fect. It seems that salt has some other properties than the 
conservative, preserving, hospitable kind of quality which 
legend and the daily needs of mankind have ascribed to it. 

A very fine and artistic set of tableaux can be gotten 
up by reference to such a great work as " Boy dell's Shake- 
sjDeare," if it happens to be at hand. Also a study of fine 
engravings, such as one finds in the "National Academy." 
If these books are not attainable, almost any pictorial maga- 
zine will furnish subjects. Or, if imagination is consulted, 
construct a series out of Waverley, or from the but too well 
known scenes of the French Eevolution, or from George 
Eliot's delightful "Eomola" — a book full of remarkable 
pictures, with the additional charm of the old Florentine 
dress. Sometimes a very impressive poem is given in tab- 
leaux, like Tennyson's "Princess," or, the "Dream of Fair 
Women." Then there are many artistic but rather horri- 
ble surprises, as " The Head of John the Baptist," which 
can be "cut off" admirably by an intervening table, and 
so on ; but nothing is so good as a study of the fine groups 
of the best painters. 

Venetian scenes, from Titian's and Tintoretto's pictures, 
can be admirably represented in tableaux. The Italian 
wealth of color is always impressive ; and as engravings of 
these pictures are attainable, it is well to represent them. 
Eoman scenes are very effective, and especially as Alma Tade- 
ma arranges them for us, with his fine feeling for the antique. 

The humor of Hogarth, aided as it is by the picturesque 
dress of his day, can be represented in a tableau. But 



24 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

without some sucli aids liumor is generally lost in a tab- 
leau. There is not time for it. Some of Darley's groups, 
as, for instance, the illustrations of "Eip Van Winkle," are 
admirable, and would seem to contradict this statement, for 
they are full of fun ; but then — they are wonderfully well 
dressed. That early Eeyolutionary dress, borrowed in part 
from the days of Queen Anne, is very picturesque. 

If there is some one in the group whose fine sense of the 
proprieties of art can be trusted, the allegorical can be 
attempted. But the danger is that the allegorical in art 
is generally ridiculous. Faith, Hope, and Charity, Mercy 
and Peace, are better anywhere than in pictures. 

The grotesque is always lost in a tableau, where there 
seems to be a sort of sesthetic demand for the heroic, the 
refined, and the delicate. A double action may be pre- 
sented with very good effect ; as in some of those fancies of 
Ketzsch and Ary Scheffer, where an angel bends over a 
sleeping child, or a group, unknown to the actors in front, 
is representing another picture behind. But the best 
effects are the simplest. One should not attempt too much. 
The old example, called " The Dull Lecture," painted by 
Gilbert Stuart Newton, where a prosy old philosopher is 
reading aloud to a pretty girl who is fast asleep, is a case in 
point. That has been a favorite tableau for forty years, 
nor are its charms yet done away with. Tableaux from 
Dickens have only a moderate success, excepting, perhaps, 
the rather overdone "Christmas Carol." The dress is 
wanting in color and character. 

Tableaux in which animals are introduced are sometimes 
very effective, if stuffed bears and lions and tigers can be 
hired from a museum. A fine tableau was once composed, 
from a French print, of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solo- 
mon ; but the camel on which that lofty lady arrived was a 
piece of scene-painting done by a very clever artist, and it 
would be difficult to improvise one. 



V. 

BEAIN GAMES. 

We now come to the winter evening, and the pencil and 
paper. 

It is a delightful feature of our modern civilization that 
books are very cheap, and that the poets are read by every- 
body. That would be a very barren house where one did 
not find Scott, Byron, Goldsmith, Longfellow, Tennyson, 
Browning, Bret Harte, and Jean Ingelow. Very few boys 
and girls can reach the age of sixteen without having com- 
mitted to memory some immortal poem of one of these 
most popular poets. 

Therefore there would be no embarrassment if we asked 
the members of any evening circle to write down three or 
four lines in the measure of "Evangeline," "Lady Clara 
Vere de Vere," "The Corsair," "The Traveler," " Mar- 
mion," or "Herve Eiel," "The Heathen Chinee," or the 
pretty " Bird Song " of Jean Ingelow. Not a parody only, 
however, but a parody involving a certain idea or word. 

In the great year of Coggia's comet this game was thus 
played, and a young man was requested to speak of the 
comet in the style of "Mother Goose." The result was as 
follows : 

" Sing a song of Ooggia — 
Comet in the sky ! 
Wonder if he'll trouble us, 
Whip up you or I ! 
2 ■» 



26 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

"When his tail is over, 

Then begin to crow ; 
Four-and-twenty doctors, 

Tell us all you know ! " 

Another of the circle was directed to treat of the Wood 
Fire in the measure of Tennyson's ''May Queen." The 
result was the following : 

" If you're snapping, snap out wisely, snap out wisely, burning 
wood! 
You would not snap so wildly if your drying had been good. 
Nor had I, sitting near you with the hearth-brush in my hand, 
Have found no peace in sitting, for fear of burning brand." • 

This was declared to be too easy a g^tme for such a wild 
and superfluous supply of brains, and, therefore, the word 
Poker was pronounced to be an essential element of every 
future poem. Poor Browning and Longfellow, Bret Harte 
and Walter Scott, were mercilessly spitted on that poker. 
Much foolscap was spoiled, but much fun gained. Here is 
one of the poker successes : 

" AFTEE BTEOKT, WITH A POKEE ; ALSO AFTEE DEINKING FLIP. 

"Here, too, the Poker stands in brass! and fills 

The air around with safety ! "VVe inhale 

The ambrosial aspect which its heat instills 

(Part of its immortality) to Flip 
(That beer which is half drawn), within the cup 
"We breathe, and its deep secrets dip. 
"Who Flip can make — who cares where he may fail ! 
Before its wide success let Heliogabalus turn pale. 

" "We drink, and turn away — we care not where ! 
Fuzzled, and drunk with porter, till the head 
Reels with its fullness. There, for ever there. 

Stand thou in triumph. Poker, strong and red I 
"We are thy captives, and thine ardor share. 
Away ! there need no words, no terms precise. 
To say in loving accents, Flip-cup, thou art nice ! " 



BRAIN GAMES. 27 

To this class of Home Amusements belongs also the fa- 
mous game of ''Twenty Questions," which was played so 
much at one time by the Cambridge professors that they 
declared that any subject should be reached in ten ques- 
tions. The proper formula for this yery intellectual game 
is this : Two parties are formed, the questioners and the 
answerers, the first haying the priyilege, after the word 
has been chosen, to inquire — 

" Is your subject animal, yegetable, or mineral ?" 

"What is its size ?" 

" To what age does it belong ?" 

*'Is it historical or natural ?" 

*' Is it ancient or modern ? " 

''Is it a manufactured article ?" etc. 

The number of subjects which are none of these, or 
which are all three, or which can not be defined in some 
way, is of course small. Thus, a Blush, a Smile, a Tear, 
an Echo, an Avalanche, a Drought, are all indescribable 
by the exact definitions of the aboye questions. But the 
questioner soon arrives at this negative, and begins a new 
series. 

Perha^DS one of the most puzzling of subjects is a 
"mummy." It fulfills certain conditions, but not others ; 
and the final question, "What is its use ?" and the answer, 
"It is used for fuel," though true — ^for the Arabs cook 
their dinners by them — does not at all coyer the ground of 
the supposed use of a mummy. The shield of Achilles, 
the Hole in the Wall through which Pyramus and Thisbe 
kissed, have been asked and guessed ! A Bat baffled even 
the most ingenious twenty questioners, while the Parlor 
into which the Spider invited the Fly was guessed. 

It is a yery intellectual and very amusing game, and 
those who play it should be as honest as possible in their 
answers. If puns and ^yordy equivoque are allowed, the 
game ceases to be legitimate. 



28 . HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

Among games requiring memory and attention we may 
mention "Cross Purposes," "The Horned Ambassador," 
"I love my Love with an A," "The Game of the Eing" 
(arithmetical), "The Deaf Man," "The G-oose's History." 
"Story Play" consists in putting a chosen word into a 
narrative so cleverly that it will not be readily guessed, 
although several people tell different stories with the chosen 
word several times repeated. The best way to play this is 
to have some odd word which is not the word — like Ba- 
nana — and use it several times ; yet one's own conscious- 
ness of the right word will often betray the story-teller. 
"The Dutch Conceit," "My Lady's Toilet," "What is my 
Thought like ?" "Scheherazade's Eansom" are very pretty, 
and may be found in many Manuals of Games. This last 
deserves a description. 

Three of the company sustain the parts of the Sultan, 
the Vizier, and the Princess Scheherazade. The Sultan 
takes his seat at the end of the room, and the Vizier then 
leads the Princess before him, with her hands bound be- 
hind her. The Vizier then makes a burlesque proclama- 
tion that the Princess, having exhausted all her stories, is 
about to be punished unless a sufficient ransom be offered. 
All the rest of the comjDany then advance in turn and pro- 
pose enigmas, which must be solved by the Sultan or Vizier; 
sing the first verse of a song, to which the Vizier must an- 
swer with the second verse ; or recite any well-known piece 
of poetry in alternate lines with the Vizier. Forfeits must 
be paid either by the company when successfully encoun- 
tered by the Sultan or Vizier, or by the Vizier when unable 
to respond to his opponents ; and the game goes on till the 
forfeits amount to any specified number on either side. 
Should the company be victorious and obtain the greatest 
number of forfeits, the Princess is released, and the Vizier 
has to execute all the penalties that may be imposed upon 
him. If otherwise, the Princess is led to execution. For 



BRAIN GAMES. . 29 

this purpose she is blindfolded, and seated on a low stool. 
The penalties for the forfeits, which should be previously 
prepared, are written on slips of paper and put in a basket, 
which she holds in her hands tied behind her. The owners 
of the forfeits advance and draw each a slip of paper. As 
each person comes forward, the Princess guesses who it is, 
and, if right, the person must pay an additional forfeit, the 
penalty for which is to be exacted by the Princess herself. 
When all the penalties have been distributed, the hands 
and eyes of the Princess are released, and she then superin- 
tends the execution of the various punishments that have 
been allotted to the company. 

Another very good game is to send one of the company 
out, and as he comes in again to address him as the sup- 
posed character of Napoleon, a Eussian emperor, Gustavus 
Adolphus, or some well-known character in history or fic- 
tion. For instance, a young lady leaves the room, and as 
she enters some one says : 

" Charming and noble heroine, most generous and most 
faithful ! we are glad to see you. How well you look, after 
all that has happened to you ! Burned alive ? Yes, I 
should say so ; and all that you suffered before ! How did 
you like wearing armor ? and what do you think of un- 
grateful kings ? How was it at home before you left ? 

Did you really see those visions ? and how did St. look? 

And, now that you are come back, will you ever be so gen- 
erous and noble as to fight for any cause except yourself ? " 

Of course, the young lady knows that she is Joan of 
Arc. But it is not necessary that character should be so 
plainly indicated, however, as in this example. 

" The Echo " is another very pretty game. It is played 
by reciting some little story, which Echo is supposed to 
interrupt whenever the narrator pronounces certain words 
which recur frequently in his narrative. These words re- 
late to the profession or trade of him who is the subject of 



30 . HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

the story. If, for example, tlie story is about a soldier, the 
words which would recur the most frequently would natu- 
rally be ''IJniform," ''Gaiters," '' Chapeau bras," -'Mus- 
ket," "Plume," "Pouch," "Sword," "Saber," "Gun," 
" Knapsack," " Belt," "Sash," "Cap," "Powder-flask," 
" Accouterments," and so on. Each one of the company, 
with the exception of the person who tells the story, takes 
the name of Soldier, Powder-flask, etc., except the name 
"Accouterments." "When the speaker pronounces one of 
these words, he who has taken it for his name ought, if the 
word has been said only once, to pronounce it twice ; if it 
has been said twice, to pronounce it once. When the word 
"Accouterments" is uttered, the players — all except the 
soldier — ought to repeat again the word "Accouterments" 
either once or twice. 

These games are amusing, as showing how defective a 
thing is memory, and how apt, when under fire, to desert 
us. It is also very queer to mark the difference of charac- 
ter exhibited by the players. The most unexpected revela- 
tions are made. 

Another very funny game is " Confession by a Die," 
played with cards and dice. It would look at first like a 
parody on "Mother Church," but it is not so guilty. A 
person takes some blank cards, and, counting the company, 
writes down a sin for each. The unlucky sinner when 
called upon must not only confess, but, by throwing the 
dice also, confess as many sins as they indicate, and do pen- 
ance for them all. These can, with a witty leader, be made 
very funny. 

"The Secretary" is another good game. The persons 
sit at a table with square pieces of paper, and pencils, and 
each one writes his own name, handing the paper, carefully 
folded down, to the Secretary, who distributes them, say- 
ing "Character!" Then each one writes out an imagin- 
ary character, hands it again to the Secretary, who says 



BRAIN GAMES. 31 

"Future!" The papers are again distributed, and the 
writers forecast the future. Of course, the Secretary 
throws in all sorts of other questions, and, when the game 
is through, the papers are read. They form a curious and 
heterogeneous piece of reading. Sometimes such curiouB 
bits of character-reading crop out tliat one suspects and 
dreads complicity. But, if it is honestly played, the game 
is amusing. 

Of Euses and Catch-games, Practical Jokes, and all 
plays involving mystification and mortification, we have a 
great abhorrence. They do not belong to the class of 
Home Amusements. Let them be relegated to that bad 
limbo of "college hazing," and other ignoble tricks which 
some people call fun. Far better the games which call for 
wit, originality, and inspiration ; which show knowledge, 
reading, and a full repertoire ; and a familiarity with all the 
three homely studies — ^geography, arithmetic, and history, 
including natural history. One of these games is called 
" The Traveler's Tour," and may be made very interesting, 
if the leader is ingenious. It is played in this way : One of 
the party announces himself the " Traveler." He is given 
an empty bag, and counters with numbers on are distributed 
among the players. Thus, if twelve persons are playing, 
the numbers must count up to twelve — a set of ones to be 
given to one, tivos to two, and so on. Then the Traveler 
asks for information about the places to which he is going. 
The first person gives it, if he can ; if not, the second, and 
so on. If the Traveler considers it correct information, or 
worthy of notice, he takes from the person one of his count- 
ers, as a pledge of the obligation he is under to him. The 
next person in order takes up the next question, and so on. 
After the Traveler reaches his destination, he empties his 
bag, and sees to whom he has been indebted for the great- 
est amount of information. He then makes him the next 
Traveler. Of course, this opens the door for all sorts of 



32 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

witty rejoinders, as the players choose to exaggerate the 
claims of certain hotels, the geographical position of places, 
and the hits at such a place as Long Branch, for instance, 
by describing it as an *' inland spot, very retired, where 
nobody goes," etc., etc. Or it can be played seriously, 
with the map of Europe or America in one's memory. The 
absurd way is, however, the favorite style with most, as in 
this wise : 

Traveler. "1 am going to Newport this summer. 
Which is the best route ? " 

Ansioer. "Well, start by the Erie Railroad and try to 
form a junction with the Pittsburg and Ohio." 

Trav. " When shall I get there ? " 

An. " If you take the Southern Pacific you may reach 
Newport before the Eall Eiver boat gets in " (sarcasm on 
the slowness of the boat). 

Trav. ''How if I go by the ISTorthern Pacific ?" 

An. "Well, that is better than the WicTcf or d xonte." 

Or Trav. says : "I want to go to San Francisco ; how 
shall I start?" 

An. "Well, at the rate the Cunarders are going to 
Europe now, your quickest way is to take the Gallia, and 
on reaching Liverpool to go to India by the Overland Route, 
and so round the world." 

The rhyming game is also very amusing. It is done in 
this way : 

SpeaTcer. " I have a word that rhymes with Game.'^ 

Interlocutor. "Is it something statesmen crave ?" 

8p. "jN"o, it is not Fame." 

In. "Is it something that goes halt ? " 

8p. "No, it is not Lame." 

In. " Is it something tigers need ? " 

Sp. "No, it is not to Tame." 

In. "Is it what we all would like ? " 

Sp. " No, it is not Good Name." 



BRAIN GAMES. 33 

In. " Is it to shoot at Duck ? " 

Sp. "' Yes, and that Duck to maim." 

Such words as Nun, Thing, Fall, etc., which admit of 
many rhymes, are very good ones to choose. The two who 
play it must be quick - witted and read each other's 
thoughts. 

The end rhymes, which the French like, are very in-, 
genious.* Try making a poem to fit these words, for in- 
stance, and you catch the idea : 



Town. 


Lay. 


Place. 


Long. 


Eenown. 


May. 


Space. 


Wrong. 


Eun. 


Fame. 


Eain. 




Sun. 


Name. 


Train. 





The game of "Crambo," in which each player has to 
write a noun on one piece of paper and a question on an- 
other, is curious. As, for instance, the drawer may get 
the noun "Mountain," and the question, "Do you love 
me ? " he must write a sonnet or poem in which he an- 
swers the one and brings in the other. 

The game of "Preferences" has had a long and a suc- 
cessful career. It is a very good addition to Home 
Amusements to possess a blank-book lying on the parlor- 
table, in which each guest should be asked to write out 
answers to the following questions : 

Who is your favorite hero in history ? 
Who is your favorite heroine in history ? 
Who is your favorite king in history ? 
Who is your favorite queen in history ? 
What is your favorite male Christian name ? 
What is your favorite female Christian name ? 

* This was the invention of a poor poet named Dulot, who found 
rhymes for other poets. 



34 EOME AMUSEMENTS. 

What is your favorite flower ? 

What is your favorite color ? 

What is your favorite style of music ? 

What is your favorite style of climate ? 

What is your favorite amusement ? 

What is your favorite study ? 

Wiiat is your favorite exercise ? 

What is your favorite book ? 

What is your favorite game ? etc., etc. 

These questions may be amplified according to the taste 
of the owner of the book. 

These books are very common in English country 
houses, and the statistics of favoritism have been taken. 
Napoleon Bonaparte, even in the land of the Duke of Wel- 
lington, had the greatest number of admirers as a hero ; 
Mary, Queen of Scots, was the favorite queen in a majority 
of instances ; Lord Byron led off as a poet, and the names 
Edward and Alice had the greatest number of votes as 
admired Christian names. Joan of Arc is always ahead as 
a heroine. In America, after -a five years' experience, a 
number of books were compared, and resulted in a close 
tie between Washington and Napoleon as hero ; between 
Charles X, of Sweden, and Francis I as king ; with Mary, 
Queen of Scots, far ahead as queen ; with Theodore and 
Mary as Christian names in advance. Yet an occasional 
originality crops out in these " preferences," and the ex- 
amination of the different opinions is always interesting. 

The game of Authors, especially when created by the 
persons who wish to play it, is very interesting. The game 
can be bought, and is. a very common one, as, perhaps, 
everybody knows ; but it can be rendered uncommon by 
the preparation of the cards arrfOng the members of the 
family. There are sixty-four cards to be prepared, with 
each the name of a popular author, and any three of his 



BRAm GAMES. 36 

works. The entire set is numbered from one to sixty- 
four. Any four cards containing the name and works of 
the same author form a book. Thus, " Henry W. Long- 
fellow, 'Hyperion,' '^Evangeline,' 'New England Trage- 
dies,' " would form one set. As the shuffling and distri- 
bution of these cards, and the plan of also drawing from 
a pile in the middle of the table, creates the greatest uncer- 
tainty as to the whereabouts of a certain card, much amuse- 
ment can be derived in the effort to make a book. The 
cards must be equally distributed one at a time, begin- 
ning at the left of the dealer. The players then arrange 
their cards in the hand. If one finds four of a kind, 
he immediately declares a book, and lays it face down- 
ward on the table ; and then, if holding one of the 
"Longfellow's," he will say "Evangeline." He can ask 
any other player for "Hyperion." After receiving either 
the card or a negative answer, the next player to the left 
goes on with his play. Players can only call for such cards 
as belong to books of which they hold a portion. Should 
a player call for a card which he already holds, that card is 
forfeited to the person of whom it was called. The caller 
always finds the name of the card he wants among those 
printed in small type ; the person of whom it is called finds 
it in large type at the top. 

This game may be made very useful by using the names 
of kings and queens, and the learned men of their reigns, 
instead of authors. It is a very good way to study history. 
The popes can be utilized, with their attendant great men, 
and by playing the game for a season the dates and the 
events of some obscure period of history will be effectually 
fixed in the memory. 

As the numbers affixed to the cards may.be purely arbi- 
trary, the count at the'end will fluctuate with remarkable 
impartiality ; thus, the Dickens cards may count but one, 
while Tupper will be named sixteen ; Carlyle can be two, 



36 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

while Artemus Ward shall be sixty. This is made very 
amusing sometimes. King Henry VIII, who set no small 
store by himself, can be made to count yery little in the 
kingly game, while the poor Edward TV may haye a higher 
numeral than he was allowed in life. 



VI. 

FOETUNE-TELLING. 

We now come to that game which interests old and 
young. None are so apathetic but that they relish a look 
behind the dark curtain. The apple-paring in the fire, 
the roasted chestnut and the raisin, the fire-back and the 
stars, have been interrogated since time began. The pack 
of cards, the tea-cup, the dream-book, the board with the 
mystic numbers, and the Bible and Key, have been con- 
sulted from time immemorial. The makers of games have 
given in their statistics, and they declare that there are no 
cards or games so sure of selling well as those which fore- 
tell the Future. 

Now a very jDretty Home Amusement is to cultivate, 
without believing much in them, the innocent sciences of 
palmistry and of fortune-telling. Several years ago this 
led to the making of a very pretty book by Mrs. Grilman, 
of South Carolina — a poetical and very harmless fortune- 
teller — made up of lines from the poets. The young ladies 
of the period used to draw as future husbands : "A pro- 
fessor, and a log cabin in the West"; "a lord, and a 
castle"; " a merchant prince " ; " an irresolute and an ob- 
stinate fool" ; "a well-favored gentleman," and so on, the 
good fortunes being in great advance of the bad ones. It 
was a popular work, and amused many a tea-party. 

Many people, since the advent of Spiritualism, have 
amused themselves with that wonderful toy, " Planchette," 



38 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

and other curious caprices of mind-reading, clairvoyance, 
table-tipping, and knocks. The Key, which seems to jjos- 
sess strong magnetic powers, and all the performances 
which the unbeliever calls "nonsense," or worse, and which 
the believing call ''manifestations," are also interesting; 
but we can not recommend, this sort of tampering with 
nervous and exciting pleasure, as it has undoubtedly some- 
times unhinged the most truly innocent minds. Such in- 
vestigations should be left to strong and sober men, and 
should be approached in a very philosophical spirit, or not 
at all. 

There can be no harm, however,, in a playful consulta- 
tion of the leaves of the daisy, the four-leaved clover, the 
fortunate black cat who brings us luck, the moon over the 
right shoulder, the oracular "You shall travel over land 
and sea " — ^.believing in all the good fortune, but in none of 
the bad. The salt should be carefully thrown over the left 
shoulder, if spilled, and all the Fates and Fairies should be 
propitiated. It gives delightful variety to life to know all 
the superstitions and the lore of old nurses and grand- 
mothers. Did we follow them back, we should find that 
they each had a poetical origin. We all like to believe that 
we can enumerate on our fingers the false friends, the ene- 
mies ; but we may hope that the world could not hold the 
admirers and the friends whom one four-leaved clover or 
one black cat had given us — or promised us. To be sure, 
"we had dreamed of snakes, and that meant enemies." 
But, after all, are not enemfes next best to friends ? They 
give us consequences, and who that is worth anything was 
ever without them ? That would be a very colorless indi- 
vidual who should go through life without an enemy. 

The riches which are hidden in a fortune-telling set of 
cards (although like Peter Goldthwaite's treasure) are very 
real and comforting while they last. They are endless, 
they have few really trying responsibilities attached, they 



FORTUNE-TELLING. 39 

can not be taxed, tliey are absolutely wliere thieves can not 
break through and steal. They are so satisfactory, which 
real wealth never is ; they buy everything we want ; they 
go farther than any real fortune could go ; they are our 
real and personal estate, and our poetical dreams ; our Lamp 
of Aladdin, and our Chemical Bank. They are gained 
without hurting anybody ; they are dug out of the ground 
without painful backache or bloodshed ; they are inherited 
without stain, and can be spent without fear of profligacy. 
Of what other fortune can we say as much ? 

It would be an unending theme to try to make a cata- 
logue of the superstitions of all nations. The Irish, with 
their wild belief in fairies, that Leprechaun — the little man 
in red, who, if you can catch him, will make you happy 
and prosperous for ever after ; who has such a strange rela- 
tionship to humanity that at birth and death the Lepre- 
chaun must be tended by a mortal ! to read, as they do — 
these imaginative people — a sermon in every stone ; to see 
luck beneath the four-leaved clover, and to hang a legend 
on every bush ; to follow the more spiritually -minded 
Scotchman in his second sight, who holds that 

" Coming events cast their shadows before." 

A very learned book has been written on the " Supersti- 
tions of Wales " alone. Eloquent and poetic are the people 
who have invented the Banshee, the Brownie (or domestic 
fairy who does all the work). The more tragic and less 
loving superstitions of Italy teach that the " evil eye " is 
always to be dreaded. The Breton superstitions are as wild 
as the sea-gust which sweeps from their coast. All these 
are subjects of profound interest to those who read the 
great subject of- race, from ethnology, folk-lore, and ballads^. 
The superstitions of a people tell their innermost charac- 
teristics, and are thus profoundly interesting. 

The French have, however, tabularized fortune-telling 



40 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

for us. Their peculiar ability iu arranging ceremonials 
and fetes, and their undoubted genius for tactics and strat- 
egy, show that they are able to foresee events with unusual 
clearness. Their ingenuity in all technical contrivances is 
an additional testimony in the same direction, and we are 
not surprised that they have here, as is their wont, given 
us the practical help which we need in fortune-telling. 
Mile. Lenormand, the sorceress who prophesied to Napo- 
leon his greatness, and to many of the princes and great 
men of France their downfall and their misfortunes, has 
left us thirty-six cards (to be bought at any book-store), 
wherein we can read the decrees of fate. Her preface says, 
''Thousands of noblemen did then acknowledge her great 
talent already during her lifetime, and did often confess 
that her method was full of truth and exactness." Lenor- 
mand was a very clever sibyl ; she had great ingenuity ; she 
throws in enough of the inevitable bad, and finds enough 
of the possible good, to at least amuse those who consult 
her oracles. Whether we have confidence or faith in the 
divination, we can not but look for the lucky cards. In 
this game " The Cavalier " is a messenger of good fortune, 
and, if not surrounded by unlucky cards, brings good news, 
which the person may expect either from his own house or 
from abroad. This will, however, not take place immedi- 
ately, but some time after. 

"The Clover Leaf" is a harbinger of good news, but 
if surrounded by clouds it indicates great pain ; but if No. 
2 lies near No. 26 or 28, the pain will be of short duration, 
and will soon change to a happy issue. 

'* The Ship," the symbol of commerce, signifies great 
wealth, which will be acquired by trade or inheritance. If 
near to the person, it means an early journey. 

" The House " is a certain sign of success and pros- 
perity, and although the present position of the person may 
be disagreeable, yet the future will be bright and happy. 



FORTUNE-TELLING. 41 

If this card lies in the center of the cards under the person, 
this is a hint to beware of those who surround him, 

"A Tree/' if distant from the person, signifies good 
health. Nine trees, of different cards together, leave no 
doubt about the realization of all reasonable wishes. 

*' Clouds " : if their clear side is turned toward the per- 
son, it is a lucky sign ; with the dark side turned toward 
the person, something disagreeable will soon happen. 

'' A Serpent " is a sign of misfortune, the extent of 
which depends upon the greater or smaller distance from 
the person ; it is followed invariably by deceit, infidelity, and 
sorrow. 

*'A Coffin," very near to the person, means, without 
any doubt, dangerous diseases, death, or total loss of for- 
tune ; more distant from the person, the card is less dan- 
gerous. 

'' The Nosegay " means much happiness in every respect. 

"The Scythe" indicates great danger, which will only 
be avoided if lucky cards surround him. 

" The Eod " means quarrels in the family, domestic 
afflictions, want of peace among married persons, fever, and 
protracted illness. 

''The Birds" mean hardship to be overcome, but of 
short duration ; distant from the person, they mean the 
accomplishment of a pleasant journey. 

These are descriptions of a few of the picture-cards 
with which Mile . Lenormand tells fortunes still, although 
she has gone to the land of certainty, and has herself 
found out if her symbols and emblems, and her combi- 
nations, really did draw aside the curtain of the future with 
invisible strings. We advise all our readers to possess 
themselves of her " Fortune-telling Cards " if they wish to 
become amateur sibyls. 

The cup of tea, and the mysterious wanderings of the 
grounds around the cup, so long the favorite medium of the 



42 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

sibyl, seems to be an English superstition. It fits itself to 
the old crone domesticity of the Anglo - Saxon humble 
home, rather than to the more out-of-door romance of the 
Spaniards and the Italians ; and yet the most out-of-door 
people in the world — the gypsies — use it as a means of dis- 
cerning the future . 

The cup should be filled with a weak infusion of tea — 
grounds and all — and then carefully turning the cup toward 
one, the tea should be carefully turned out, waving the cup 
so skillfully that the tea-leaves are dispersed over the surface 
of the cup. Happy the maid who can turn out the tea 
without spilling the leaves. If one drop of tea is left in 
the cup it will mean — a tear. 

These grounds, or tea-leaves, have been used from the 
earliest days as the alphabet of the Parcse. Before Chinese 
tea was brought to England the old fortune-tellers made 
some sort of a brew out of powdered herbs, which left their 
mark on the cup. "We can understand how that sinuous 
serpent who has had so much to do with our destiny, as a 
synonym of evil, can be pictured or " visualized " by such a 
process ; but where the sibyl finds the light-haired young 
man crossing a river, where she finds gold and where 
trouble, we must leave to the interpreters. 

That most interesting of sibyls, "Noma of the Fitful 
Head," used molten lead as a means of interpreting the 
unseen, and that can be done by our modern soothsayers. 

Cards from early antiquity have been used to tell for- 
tunes. The Queen of Hearts is the heroine, and as about 
her group the propitious reds, or the gloomy blacks, so may 
we hope for good or dread bad luck. The Ace of Spades is 
a bearer of evil tidings ; the King of Hearts, at the right 
of the Queen, is the very Fortunatus himself. And now, 
who is this goddess so often invoked ? Fortuna, courted 
by all nations, was, in Creek, Tyclie, or the goddess of 
chance. She differed from Destiny or Fate in so far that 



FORTUNE-TELLING. 43 

she worked witliout law, giving or taking at her own good 
pleasure, and dispensing joy or sorrow indefinitely ; her 
symbols were those of mutability — a ball, a wheel, a*pair of 
wings, a rudder. The Eomans affirmed that, when she 
entered their city, she threw off her wings and shoes, and 
determined to live with them for ever ; she seems to have 
thought better of it, however. She was a sister of the Par- 
cse, or Fates, those three who spin the thread of life, meas- 
ure it, and cut it off. Fortunatus, he of the inexhaustible 
purse of gold and the wishing-cap, is too familiar a figure 
to the readers of fairy tales to be mentioned here . 

And yet, although all nations have desired to proj)itiate 
Fortuna, her high-priests and interpreters have ever been 
in disrepute. In Scotland, that land of demonology and 
witchcraft, of seco-nd-sight, of dreamy superstition, for- 
tune-tellers were denounced as vagabonds, and their pun- 
ishment, by statute, was scourging and burning of the ears. 
We all know how the knowledge of the "black art" was 
denounced in Germany ; and the witches of Salem, while 
they were approached at dead of night by a pale magistrate 
who desired to have his fortune told, were, at his high 
behest, tortured, pilloried, and hanged the next week, if 
the fortune was a bad one, or, if being well foretold, was 
slow of accomplishment. That half -belief which super- 
stitious persons repose in their oracles, shown in the case 
of the Indian, who breaks or maims his God if he does 
not respond to his prayer, and in the remarkable ^tory of 
Louis XI, of France, who used to alternately pray to and 
abuse his leaden images of saints, is repeated often in the 
history of fortune-telling. 

Mother Redcap, "a very witch," was resorted to by 
hundreds of persons in England as a fortune-teller ; her 
image remains on a coin dated 1667. The well-known 
prophecies of her neighbor. Mother Shipton, have come 
down to us. Poor Eedcap had all the duckings and the 



44: HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

batings of the populace . She and her black cat were the 
favorite horrors of the superstitious inhabitants of Kentish 
Town, "and hundreds of men, women, and children saw the 
devil come in state to carry her off. But Mother Shipton 
(who was born at Knaresborough in the reign of Henry 
VII) became the most popular of British prophets, and, 
although she was supposed to have sold her soul to the Old 
Gentleman, she yet died in her bed decently and in order 
at an extreme old age. So Fortuna is capricious, even in 
her treatment of her votaries . It is not strange that ^' Palm- 
istry " should have taken higher ground than mere fortune- 
telling, and indeed the lines of the hand will seem to map 
out character, and perhaps destiny, with some accuracy. 
The books say that the lines running through the palm 
indicate will or indecision, force or weakness, quickness or 
slowness ; indeed, all which makes character and fate. We 
are the arbiters of at least a part of our fortune. 

The power to tell fortunes by the hand can be learned 
from any of the French books on palmistry, and there are 
one or two little English translations. It can be suJBfi- 
ciently curious and varied to amuse the home circle, and so 
long as it is done for that purpose, fortune-telling can do 
no harm. 

But the moment we rise above the idea that the beans, 
the tea-grounds, the black cat, the cards, or the lines in 
the palm, are but blind guides, making the most palpable 
mistakes, then the tampering with the curtain becomes 
dangerous, and we had better leave the future alone. 



VII. 

AMUSEMENTS FOR A EAINY DAY. 

It may seem an impeachment of the taste of our readers 
to have lingered so long on the lesser lights of games and 
fortune-telling as " Home Amusements," when we have 
before us the great world of decorative art : gesthetic em- 
broidery, dinner-card designing, china painting, the mak- 
ing of screens, and the thousand and one devices by which 
the modern family can amuse itself. 

The making of screens is an amusement which occupies 
the whole family most profitably for a rainy day, even if it 
is to be only the cutting out of pictures from the illustrated 
newspapers, and the subsequent arrangement of them in 
curious conjunction on a white cotton or muslin back- 
ground. The use of screens has dawned upon the Ameri- 
can mind within a few years. They are delightful in a 
dining-room to keep off a draught or to hide a closet-door. 
They break up a too long room admirably. They are very 
useful in a bedroom to shut off the washstand and bath ; 
and they are very comforting to the invalid, as a protection 
to his easy-chair against insidious breezes. 

Of course, those of satin or linen, embroidered by a skill- 
ful hand ; those painted on canvas by the best painters of 
to-day ; those from China and Japan — are the screens of 
the opulent. Very pretty paper screens may be bought at 
the shops for three or four dollars. But those on which 
a group of pictures are to be pasted are the cheapest and 



46 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

most amusing of any. And do not go and buy liiglily- 
glazed pictures for the purpose. If you do, the screen looks 
like a valentine. ' But cut out the pictures from old copies 
of the "London Illustrated News," ''Punch," "Harper's 
Weekly," " Harper's Bazar," and the English " Graphic," 
paste them thickly one upon another, and you have a cu- 
rious and most interesting mosaic. A lady in 1876, the 
Centennial year, made a very beautiful screen of fashion 
plates from the ordinary magazines of the period. Al- 
ready (1881) these fashions look very antiquated, and the 
screen is becoming historically valuable. The effect of 
these delicately-colored pictures, put on as thickly as possi- 
ble over the white muslin, has an effect like a festal proces- 
sion, and is very pretty. 

The medium used for adhering "the pictures is common 
flour paste, the pictures being also washed over the out- 
side with the same, and all the edges effectually fastened 
down, the cotton cloth to which they are applied being 
tightly stretched over a wooden frame. When domestic 
paste is made, the material is frequently injured by scorch- 
ing, or by the addition of too much water. Good paste, 
when spread on paper, will not strike through it like water, 
but will remain on the surface, like butter on a piece of 
bread. To make paste of a superior quality, that will not 
spoil when kept in a cool place for several months, it is 
necessary to add dissolved alum as a preservative. When a 
few quarts are required, dissolve a dessert-spoonful of alum 
in two quarts of tepid water. Put the water in a tin pail 
that will hold six or eight quarts, as the flour of which the 
paste is made will expand greatly while it is boiling. As 
soon as the tepid water has cooled, stir in good rye or wheat 
flour, until the liquid has the consistency of cream. See 
that every lump of flour is crushed before placing the ves- 
sel over the fire. To prevent scorching the paste, place 
over the fire a dish-kettle or wash-boiler, partly filled with 



AMUSEMENTS FOR A RAINY BAY. 4T 

water, and set the tin pail containing the material for paste 
in the water, permitting the bottom to rest on a few large 
nails or pebbles, to prevent excessive heat. Now add a tea- 
spoonful of powdered resin, a few cloves to flavor the paste, 
and let it cook until the paste has become as thick as 
" Graham mush," when it will be ready for use. Keep it 
in a tight Jar, and it will last for a long time. If too thick, 
add cold water, and stir it thoroughly. Such paste will 
hold almost as well as glue. 

The famous picture-books of Walter Crane make a very 
pretty frieze for screens ; the artists of the family some- 
times paint a frieze. In these days of dadoes the screens are 
often made with dado, wainscot, and frieze in three differ- 
ent colored papers, so that there are three tiers oi back- 
ground for the pictures, if the maker desires to leave spaces 
between them. The cutting out of the pictures is an amus- 
ing occupation for all the family on a rainy day. 

This making of screens sometimes leads to another very 
attractive work for a rainy day — the preparation for a fancy 
dress ball. This, in a lonely country house, far away from 
the chance of any outward amusement, has often cheated 
a fortnight's bad weather of its heart-depressing qualities. 

As. we have not the stores of old armor, old brocade 
and satin, powdered wigs, and costumes of the different 
reigns, which may be supposed from modern English nov- 
els to be the property of every English mansion, we must 
call upon taste and upon our national faculty of invention 
to help us in this dilemma. The country store will give us 
black and white tarlatan, chintz, cotton flannel (a most ex- 
cellent medium), and, indeed, flannels of all sorts. Black 
lace, Jewelry, and flowers are in every lady's trunk, and, 
with some stiff linings and applique chintz flowers, an old 
silk can be made into a priceless brocade. 

Let us take a Venetian dress first. We will have King 
Pantelon, the Lord of Misrule, in black with scarlet shirt 



48 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

and three-cornered hat, and attended by his gay and disso- 
lute crew. We will have the Illustrissimi, wearing the 
dress of the ancient Venetian nobility, scarlet cloaks, and 
long bag wigs, mightily disdainful ; the Chiozotti in black 
velvet, wide lace collars, and high cloth caps, adorned 
with artificial flowers — they shall shower confetti and 
make jokes ; we shall have dominoes and masks, Egyp- 
tians and Neapolitans in velvet, with scarlet caps and stock- 
ings, clapping castanets ; we shall have Armenians, Levant 
merchants and sailors, Turks in caftans, Greeks and Dal- 
matians, regular-featured Mussulmans, Hindoos with jet- 
black hair, and Malay Lascars. in many-colored turbans, 
fez, and scarf ; grinning soot-black negroes, Polish Jews in 
furred caps and long coats, Magyars in Hessians and pe- 
lisses ; Bohemian nurses in Czechen costume, a colored 
handkerchief in the hair ; dark-eyed young bourgeoises in 
coquettish black veils ; elegant ladies in velvet and point 
lace ; the gondolier, in his picturesque sailor costume and 
broad sash ; the Finland peasant, with short skirts, long- 
dangling ear-rings, and silver pins ; the Maltese with her 
fazzoletto ; an old Contadino, with short velveteen knee- 
breeches, gaiters, and colored cotton umbrella ; priests all 
in black gown, shovel hat, and black silk stockings ; dash- 
ing naval officers ; the Guar Ma Nazionale, and weather- 
beaten fishermen with bronzed faces and red Phrygian cap. 
We shall have Lord Byron, pale and melancholy, and pictu- 
resque Masaniello ; the patriarchs of the Greek Church ; the 
Spanish beauties, the Swiss peasant, the German Madchen ; 
the madcap Harlequin dress of a Spanish princess. Then 
there will be all the seasons — winter, for instance, in tulle, 
swansdown, and spun glass ; the Marie Antoinettes, in pink 
brocade with long, square trains and trimmings of Marabout 
feathers ; the lovely Georgian costume, a Seville gypsy, a 
Eussian peasant ; a flower-girl, a Nymph ; Night and Day ; 
Spanish students and Flemish boors ; Pages of Queen 



AMUSEMENTS FOR A RAINY DAY. 49 

Blanclie of Castile ; the beautiful white uniform of the 
Dragon de Villars ; a gothic costume; Charlemagne and 
his Paladins. In short — 'Hhe Carniyal of Venice." All 
this was done, and well done, at a country house and the 
adjacent village (a village of not more than fifteen hundred 
inhabitants), and for very little money, only a few years 
ago. 

The business is done if one only thinhs he can do it j 
and there are numbers enough to work at it. A boarding- 
school holiday, a watering-place, a large town bent on "get- 
ting up something " for charity, should have one such 
home behind it, where a natural-born leader will set the 
whole thing going, and the picturesque shores of Italy will 
give up their delights to some western town, some inland 
village, some quiet and decorous hamlet of New England, 
where all the inhabitants are dying of ennui. 

But here, from the pictures of our screen, which have 
suggested all this, we have been led off from Decorative 
Art into the business of giving a ball ! We have been en- 
tertaining a motley crowd indeed ! 

"The day was dull, and dark, and dreary, 
It rained, and the rain was never weary." 

But see ! how we have cheated the clouds ! The rainy 
fortnight has been the most dissipated season possible — all 
owing to our happy device of getting up a fancy ball — one 
of the very many pleasant thoughts which have grown out 
of screens and screen-making. 

3 



VIII. 

EMBROIDEEY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. 

Let us return to our three legitimate decorations — our 
fan-painting, our screen-painting, and our embroideries. 

Of Embroidery tlie world is full, and at its best estate. 
The foolish old Oerman wool-worsted work has gone out, 
and in its place we have the very elaborate church needle- 
work of the Middle Ages, and, better still, its tapestry. 

Some ingenious lady discovered that a plain piece of 
carpet made a very good background for a rich curtain, 
after a few stitches of embroidery were added ; and it took 
but one step farther for another lady to find in cotton 
velvet a good background for tapestry. . The figures are 
sketched on, and then the embroidery is artistically added, 
in the style of the thirteenth century, when the characters 
were outlined by a single line, which also designates the 
shape and folds of the garments. These outlines are filled 
in with masses of stitches in two or three shades of color. 
It is best, in making tapestry, to adhere to this simplicity, 
as in attempting the later richness of the Gobelins the work 
degenerates into a vulgar imitation. 

And in stitching away at the tapestry frame, the well- 
read mamma might give her daughters a little sketch of 
the history of tapestry. How once these artistic draperies 
were the adornments of those stone castles which knew no 
plastered walls. How they caught the story of the " Iliad " 
and " Odyssey," the scenes from the Bible, thewhole story 



EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. 51 

of mythology, tlie history of great wars. There hangs to- 
day, at Blenheim, a perfect set of pictures of the victories 
of the great Duke of Marlborough, done for him by the 
pious Belgian nuns. 

But those works anterior to the sixteenth century have 
the greatest interest for the student of tapestry. Grold 
thread and silk were freely used in their embellishment, 
and the effect is rather that of a mosaic than of a picture. 
The greens are a study. They are produced with a dark 
blue for the dark, and a yellow for the light tints. The 
wonderful work of Matilda, called the Bayeux tapestry, 
wrought on brown linen ; the many historical pieces found 
in Italy, done in wools ; and the collections all over Eu- 
rope, show a mastery over the needle which we have lost. 

But it was left for Francis I, of France, to establish the 
most renowned factory for these beautiful things, when at 
Fontainebleau he founded what is now the Gobelins. The 
Gobelins were two Dutch dyers of wool, celebrated for 
their brilliant scarlets, who eventually gave their name to 
the art, and a '' Gobelin " got to mean a tapestry. Under 
Louis XIV the Luxurious this manufactory attained to 
highest importance. They became the Herters and Mar- 
cottes of France. Colbert, the Prime Minister, united 
under one head all the different bands of workmen who 
were employed on furniture and decorations for the royal 
palaces of France. To the weavers of carpets and tapestry 
were added embroiderers, goldsmiths, wood-carvers, dyers, 
etc. Charles Lebrun and his pupils were charged with 
furnishing designs. Lebrun himself furnished over twenty- 
four hundred designs. In 1667 Louis himself paid a visit 
of state to the manufactory, accompanied by Colbert, and 
examined the magnificent carpets, tapestries, silver plate, 
and carvings which formed the splendid " Manufactory of 
Furniture to the Crown." This great establishment, how- 
ever, went down, as Louis lost money ; and after the death 



52 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

of Lebrun (he was father to the wretched husband of pretty 
Madame Le Brun) it returned to its original function of 
producing tapestry. These Gobelin tapestries grew to be 
the most wonderful reproduction of pictures eyer seen. 

But why, one paiises to ask, try to reproduce a picture 
'^done in oils" by the laborious process of needle-work or 
weaving ? Why by process of mosaic ? It is one of the 
useless fancies of the human race. The old tapestry, done 
by hand when there were no Gobelins, had a meaning and 
a use. So has the modern tapestry done by hand. It is 
cheap, it is individual, it is original ; but for the Gobelins, 
that favorite luxury of kings, we fail to see an excuse. 
However, it is very beautiful, expensive, and rare. 

The process of tapestry weaving is called the " Tiaute 
Usse," the warp being placed vertically, in contradistinc- 
tion to the "basse lisse" a work with a horizontal warp, as 
is usual. The weaver stands with the model which he is to 
copy behind him. As the surface of the tapestry must 
present a perfectly smooth and even ' surface, all cuttings 
must be made on the wrong side, for the workman never 
sees the beautiful work he is doing. This has been made 
use of in poetry in the following simile : 

" We work but blindly at the loom, 
Nor see the pattern, save in parts; 
Not ours to mark the gleam or bloom, 
But labor on, with patient hearts. 

" But when the angels overhead 

The soul- wrought tapestry unfurls, 
Perhaps the tears we vainly shed 

May glow amid the threads — like pearls. 

" The sorrow which has crushed the heart 
A lily blooms, on azure field ; 
The strife in which we bore our part 
In bud and flower may stand revealed." 



■ EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. 53 

The Gobelins used gold, silver, pearls, and everything 
decorative in their work, at times, to produce effect. The 
first Eevolution brought destruction to the Gobelins, as it 
did to everything else, and many choice pieces were burned. 
But it rose again under the first Napoleon, David furnish- 
ing designs. In 1871 the Communists again set fire to the 
manufactory, burning up the exhibition-room. Four hun- 
dred thousand dollars was the estimated loss. But when 
we remember that there perished tapestries of the four- 
teenth and fifteenth centuries, including the '* Acts of the 
Apostles " by Eaphael, and the now valuable, graceful, al- 
though affected, charming designs of Boucher, which were 
wrought for Pompadour, besides historical portraits and 
scenes, this seems a low estimate. The embroidery of the 
cartoons of Raphael, copies of which may be seen at Hamp- 
ton Court, were among the greatest of the Gobelin tri- 
umphs. 

However, to those who have walked the galleries of 
Florence, who have seen there the grand and beautiful 
specimens of embroidered tapestry of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, there will ever be a charm about old tapestry in the 
crude perspective and the sudden shading. It is this, 
perhaps, which can be copied. It is this to which the 
modern tapestry worker should address herself, if among 
the amusements of home she counts the making of cur- 
tains, and wall - coverings, and portieres, which shall 
almost suggest the possibility that they once hung in a 
Florentine or a "Venetian palace. A dark background of 
some cheap woolen stuff, a knowledge of drawing, the 
silk and woolen and cotton and linen threads now 
brought to our hand so cheaply — will all furnish forth 
the appliances for the making of tapestry hangings, such 
as a castellan of the Middle Ages would not have de- 
spised. 

Painting on fans has become a very common Home 



54 EOME AMUSEMENTS. 

Amusement, and it is a very elegant one. The white silk 
fan is usually selected, although linen, satin, and wood fans 
are all easy and pleasant mediums. For painting on silk, 
some technical knowledge is necessary, some gum-water, or 
sizing, to prevent the paint from spreading. For painting 
on wood, one needs only the common water-color box, 'and 
a simple knowledge of drawing and painting. Flowers, 
birds, and butterflies are the favorite devices, monograms 
having gone out of fashion. It is better, if possible, to 
have the silk stretched on a frame before it is mounted on 
sticks, as one still sees the masterpieces of Boucher, Wat- 
teau, and Greuze, not yet mounted, but framed, in galleries 
— far too precious to mount, the Marchioness who ordered 
them having, perhaps, fortunately forgotten her caprice 
that we may admire it. 

And what pretty and pleasing and altogether historical 
memories come in with the fan ! It was created in prime- 
val ages. The Egyptian ladies had them of lotus-leaves ; 
the Greek and Eoman ladies followed. The word jlabellum 
occurs often in the Roman literature. They also had fans 
of peacock-feathers, and of some expansive material painted 
in brilliant colors. They were not made to open and shut 
like ours ; that is a modern invention. They were stiff, 
with long handles, for ladies were fanned by their slaves. 
The flahellifer, or fan-bearer, was some young attendant, 
generally male, whose common business it was to carry his 
mistress's fan. "Would that were the fashion now ! There 
is a Pompeian painting of Cupid as the fan-bearer of 
Ariadne, and lamenting her desertion by Theseus. In 
Queen Elizabeth's day the fan was usually made of feath- 
ers, like the fan still used in the East. The handle was 
richly ornamented, and set with stones, A fashionable 
lady was never without her fan, which was chained to 
her girdle by a jeweled chain. A satirist of the day, 
Stephen Gosson, a^^proves of the fan if used to drive away 



EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. 55 

flies and for cooling the skin. He, however, continues 
scornfully : 

"But seeing they were still in hand, 

In house, in field, in church, in street, 
In summer, winter, water, land, 

In cold, in heat, in dry, in wet — 
I judge they are for wives such tools 
As babies are in plays for fools." 

Queen Elizabeth dropped a silver-handled fan into the 
moat at Auistead Hall, which occasioned many madrigals. 
Sir Erancis Drake presented to his royal mistress a "fan of 
feathers, white and red, enameled with a half-moon of 
mother-of-pearl ; within that a half-moon garnished with 
sparks of diamonds, and a few seed pearls on one side. 
Having her Majesty's picture within it, and on the reverse 
a crow." Why not try, young ladies, to paint a fan like 
this ? Use silver dust to illustrate "sparks of diamonds." 
It would be a very pretty conceit. 

Poor Leicester gave, as his New Year's gift, in 1574, "a 
fan of white feathers set in a handle of gold, garnished on 
one side with two very fair emeralds, and fully garnished 
with rubies and diamonds, and on each side a white bear 
(his cognizance), and two pearls hanging, a lion romping, 
with a white muzzled bear at his foot. " This fan would 
be difficult to copy. It was evidently a love-token from 
poor, ill-used Leicester to his haughty queen. Just before 
Christmas, in 1595, Elizabeth went to Kew, dined at my 
Lord Keeper's house, and there was handed her a " fine fan, 
with a handle garnished with diamonds." 

Fans in Shakespeare's time seem to have been composed 
of ostrich-feathers, and so on, stuck into handles. In 
"Love and Honor," by Sir William Davenant, we find the 
line, 

" All your plate, Yasco, is the silver handle of your old prisoner's 
fan." 



56 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

Marston says : 

"Another, he 
Her silver-handled fan would gladly be." 

Forty pounds were often given for a fan in Elizabeth's 
time. Bishop Hall, in his ''Satires/' in 1597, says : 

" While one piece pays her idle waiting man, 
Or buys a hood, or silver-handled fan." 

The fan of the Countess of Suffolk resembles a powder- 
puff. 

But gentlemen carried fans in those . days. We find in 
a manuscript in the Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford, the 
following allusion : " The gentlemen then had prodigious 
fans, as is to be seen in old pictures, like that instrument 
which is used to dry feathers, and it had a handle at least 
one half as long, with which their daughters oftentimes 
were corrected. Sir Edward Cole, Lord Chief Justice, 
rode the circuit with such a fan, and William Dugdale told 
me he was witness of it." The Earl of Manchester also 
used such a fan. " But the fathers and mothers slasht their 
daughters, in the time of their besom -discipline, when they 
were perfect women." Both fashions have happily passed 
away. Lords Chief Justices no longer " slash " their daugh- 
ters, nor do they carry fans. 

Of Catharine de Braganza (1664) we read that she and 
her maids walked from Whitehall in procession to St. 
James's Palace through the park in glittering costume of 
silver lace in the bright morning sunshine. Parasols being 
unknown in England at that era, the courtly belles used 
the gigantic green shading-fans, which had been intro- 
duced by the Queen and her Portuguese ladies, to shield 
their complexions from the sun, when they did not wish 
wholly to obscure their charms by putting on their masks. 
Both were in general use in this reign. The green shading- 
fan is of Moorish origin, and for more than a century after 



EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. 57 

the marriage of Catliarine of Braganza was considered an 
indispensable luxury by our fair and stately ancestral dames, 
who used them in open carriages, in the promenade, and 
at' prayers, where they ostentatiously screened their devo- 
tions from public view by spreading them before their faces 
while they knelt. 

But China and Japan — the home of fans — are waiting 
to be let in ! and as soon as the India trade was opened by 
Catharine's marriage treaty, there entered the carved ivory 
fan, the light bamboo and palm-leaf, the paper fan, the 
silk folding fan, mounted on beautiful Japanese sticks ; all 
came to England about this time. 

The vellum fans of France, on which Watteau first 
painted his shepherdesses in hoop-petticoats, and swains in 
full-bottomed wigs, the choice impossible goddesses of 
Boucher, with cupids and nymphs, all came next. The 
history of fans, in France alone, would fill a volume ; and 
the neighboring kingdom of Spain, where the language of 
fans has become a very serious study, would give us another 
volume. The fans of tortoise-shell, enriched with jewels, 
are a favorite luxury of to-day. Oliver Wendell Holmes 
has written a delightful poem on the " Origin of the Fan." 
In all our art loan collections there is, nowadays, an exhibi- 
tion of fans. The young student of fan-painting should 
strive to see some of those of "Watteau and of Boucher. 
Tiffany to-day turns out some very beautiful specimens ; 
and more than one of our artists could admirably paint a 
fan or two as his contribution to Fan History. 

Nothing can be prettier as a Home Amusement than 
fan-painting, into which much, but not too much, Japanese 
suggestion should creep. Eemember, young ladies, the 
plea of that poor stork, of which we have seen so much, 
** that he be allowed to put down his other leg ! " and spare 
us the gilded bird, or give him to us but seldom. 

The art of Illumination, which is now studied occa- 



58 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

sionally by our young ladies, goes wonderfully well into 
fan-painting. Perhaps it is too good for it. Perhaps the 
same hand which can copy the old initial letter which 
makes the missals rich and rare, should not condescend to 
the application of the same delicate manipulation in order 
to ornament a fan. But a fan of vellum, painted by an 
illuminator, is still a very beautiful thing. 

A fan painted to illustrate a song or a ballad is a very 
pretty thing. The common linen fan, on which a clevet 
hand draws with pencil or ink the story of " Mary, Mary, 
quite contrary," becomes a precious possession. And ii> 
these days of Kate Greenaways and Eosina Emmets w& 
ought to have many charming fan decorators. We should 
not object if they selected the old-fashioned manure god- 
desses, hovering cupids, smiling nymphs, and pose infants 
of Boucher, if they would give us his cool, pearly grays, 
and sweet, soft rose tints. We have had enough of real- 
ism and ugliness, disagreeable cat-tails, and harsh, dirty 
Joan of Arcs. Let us have a little beauty by way of a 
change, at least on our fans. Perhaps we could " live up 
to it." 

Nor should we fail to note the pleasant possibility of all 
the dinner-cards of a winter coming fresh from the hands 
of the young ladies of the family. What infinite sugges- 
tion does one glimpse of the garden on a June morning 
give to the fair artist ! We can imagine that some poetical 
member should thus summon and direct her sister and 
brother artists in the following manner : 

''Do give me, Eosamond, that spray of sweet-brier 
which has caught a bit of spider-web over its sweetest 
pink bud. Throw in that green dragon-fly who is about 
to dart through the spider's web. Give me, Grace, that 
morning-glory cup with a yellow butterfly floating over it. 
It will shame the best Venetian glass of Mrs. Crcesus. 

"You, Jane, paint me those dandelions, strewed by 



EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. 59 

some millionaire who is tired of his gold. You, Constance, 
take this volume of the old poets, and hunt up appropriate 
mottoes to write under these fancies from Nature. They 
shall illuminate our dinners of next winter, and breathe 
the breath of Nature through our stifE conventionality. 
They shall be our visitors from Titania. 

" Yes, a happy thought ! You, Mary, who are so akin 
to the fairies, give us your kindred. Paint me Oberon and 
Queen Mab giving a banquet in yon lily. What a splendid 
and baronial apartment ! How the golden shower falls on 
their royal heads from those laden stamens ! True cour- 
tiers they, who never stop flattering. Suggest, if you can, 
with your brush, the perfume of luxury which is born and 
bred in this royal pavilion. Show me their delicate guests. 
Here comes the Butterfly, most repandu of beaus ; and the 
Humming-bird, rich bachelor (hard to catch), who dashes 
in for a look at the beauties, and away again — you can put 
him in ; he is a type for a dinner-card. 

*' And you, Paul, who are of a strong, masculine, satiri- 
cal turn, shall make all these frogs and toads into guests in 
another set of dinner-cards. Give me the frog as an Am- 
bassador. I like his pouting throat, his puffy air — it so 
simulates importance. How grand and disdainful he is ! 

I declare, he looks so like old Mr. ! But do not make 

a portrait ; that would give offense. These toads are just 
about as lively and as brilliant as the rank and file of 
diners-out. Put them all in Worth dresses. Make the 
dishes on the table after Hawthorne's delicate fancy, the 
shapes of summer vegetables — squashes, cucumbers, pea- 
pods. What is that pretty poem I remember about Pods ? 

" ' The Monk's-hood and the Shepherd's-pnrse, 

And the Poppy's pepper-caster ; 
The Eose's scarlet reticule, 

And the somber box of the Aster ; 
Nasturtion's biting brandy-flask, 



60 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

infused with a wliolesome smart ; 
Aud the Milkweed's knot of white floss silk, 

Which "will not come apart ; 
For next to the bud where the Poppy nods, 

And the sweet Moss-rose — are the late Seed-pods.' " 

''Yes," said Mary, ''pods are very pretty." 

Well, we have, perhaps, talked nonsense enongb. about 
the dinner-cards. It is a pretty Home Amusement for 
the back piazza in summer, or for the close and guarded 
warm home parlor of winter. Give us the results of 
both, young ladies. And since all the wealthy chromo 
people are offering such splendid sums for the Christ- 
mas, Easter, and even advertising cards, why should not 
every group try their hand at the — perhaps — thousand dol- 
lar prize ? 

Here is a suggestion for a Christmas card : A group of 
young pagans going out of the Catacombs are represented 
as strewing flowers and singing gay songs. On the other 
side a group of austere early Christians are coming in, sing- 
ing hymns. Between the two a ray of light comes down 
through a fissure of the roof and forms a cross. The re- 
ligion that is going out, the religion that is coming in — 
the cross is between them. How much a clever hand could 
make of this moment of time, so replete with interest to 
all the world ! 

It would seem as if, with all the suggestions of Easter, 
that no one would need anything but a paint-box and a 
pack of blank cards to interest them at this season. We 
should have the World being hatched out of an ^gg ; the 
Saxon goddess Eastre ; the Legend of the Stork ; the Cer- 
man children searching for the ISTest in the garden where 
the Easter-hen had laid her egg ; the great Sunburst ; the 
Sun dancing on Easter morning ; the games of mediaeval 
England, when the women played ball at one end of the 
town and the men at the other, and one fine couple taking 



EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. 61 

occasion to run away to get married on the sly. The 
Easter Egg is full of meat for the artist. 

Growing out of these thoughts comes up the great and 
increasing taste for symbolism, which finds its highest ex- 
ponent in church embroidery. The Catholic Church has 
ever been a good customer of the decorative art schools. 
It needs and consumes or uses much embroidery. But the 
pious women of Protestant communion now also deem it a 
duty and a pleasure to decorate the altars of their beloved 
churches with much that is symbolic and beautiful, and it 
is a favorite form of Home Amusement to create an altar- 
cloth or some draperies which shall engross an hour or two 
a day of the time of the best embroideresses in the family. 

The favorite symbols are these : The Cross in its various 
forms ; the monogram composed of the Greek letters X 
{CJi) and P {R), the first two in the name of 
Christ ; the Apocalyptic letters A and ^ {Al- < j> 
pha and Omega), often combined into a mono- ^ ^ 
gram ; and the Greek characters IH2, the first X N^^ 
three letters in the name IHSOrs (Jesijs). 
This last symbol is sometimes interpreted thus, in Latin : 
J\esus], H[ominum'\ 8{alvator] — Jesus, of ME]sr the Say- 

lOUE. 

Less frequent is the Fish, which was often used by the 
early Christians as a kind of secret sign of their faith, the 
reason being that 1X6X2, the Greek word for "fish," con- ' 
tains the iiytials of an article of their creed, thus : l\r}aovg'\ 
'K.\jpLaTO(;'\, Q\eov\ T\Loq\, S[a)T7)p] — Jesus Christ, God^s Son, 
the Saviour. 

Besides the foregoing, we have the Ship, indicating the 
Church, as typified by Noah's Ark ; the Anchor (always in 
close connection with the ship) entwined with a dolphin — 
emblems of Fortitude, Faith, and Hope ; the Dove, occa- 
sionally bearing the olive-branch — the symbol of Christian 
Charity and Meekness ; the Phoenix and the Peacock — sym- 



62 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

bols of Eternity ; the Cock of Watchfulness ; the Lyre of 
the Worship of Grod ; the Palm-branch — the heathen sym- 
bol of Victory, but in a Christian sense that of Victory 
over Death ; the Sheaf ; the Bunch of Grapes, with other 
Biblical signs and allusions, such as the Hart at the Brook ; 
the Brazen Serpent ; the Ark of the Covenant ; the Seven- 
branched Candlestick ; the Serpent in the Garden of Eden; 
and, lastly, the Cross, with flowers, with a Crown, with a 
dove hovering about it. Many of these decorative symbols 
suggest themselves to the contemplative mind, and enter 
into the appropriate designs for ecclesiastical embroidery. 

This embroidery must be beautifully executed to be 
worthy of its mission. The face of Christ has been so ex- 
quisitely wrought by some devout embroideresses that it is 
like a painting. The work should be done in a frame, and 
after considerable study. 

And how pleasant a study for a winter evening becomes 
the universal subject of symbolism ! We learn that the 
Eagle and the Thunderbolt were the symbols of Power 
under pagan mythology, because the attributes of the highest 
among the gods. The Eod, wjth the two serpents, indicated 
Commerce, because Mercury, whose insignia they were, was 
the God of Traffic. The Club, the emblem of Strength, 
was the attribute of Hercules. The Griffin — most useful 
animal for all decorative purposes — was sacred to Apollo. 
The symbol of the Sphinx was taken from the fable of 
CEdipus. We are coming back to the Oriental method of 
teaching by parables in all our new internal decoration ; 
and for the illuminator the knowledge is priceless. 

We mount up from these simpler emblems to a consid- 
eration of the myths of Niobe, of Cupid and Psyche, of 
Orpheus captivating the wild beasts of the forest by the 
sound of his lyre, in which was supposed to lurk an analogy 
of the history of our Lord. Then we come down to the 
materialism of the ancients, by which a river is symbolized 



EMBROIDERY AND OTHER DECORATIVE ARTS. 63 

by a river-god ; a city, by a goddess witb a mural crown ; 
night, by a female figure with, a torch and a star-bespangled 
robe ; heaven, by a male figure throwing a veil in an arched 
form over his head. All these reflections, born of study 
and leading to it, are brought in by the practical applica- 
tion now made in embroidery, painting, and wall-decora- 
tions ; and it would be well if, among the Home Amuse- 
ments, these graver studies went hand in hand with the 
pleasant duties of embroidery and illuminating cards and 
books. 

Ole Bull says that he arrived at his wonderful eflEects 
upon 'the violin less by manual practice than by medita- 
tion. It would be well to thinh much over the subject of 
art. He practiced less and tliouglit more, it is said, than 
other violinists. No occupation conduces more to quiet 
and pleasant thought than that of embroidery. We want 
realism ; but we also want idealism. There is no sort of 
doubt that Art, once admitted as a friend of the family, 
becomes the greatest instigator of all sorts of Home Amuse- 
ments, whether peeping out through the paint-box, the 
needle, the embroidering-frame, the etching tool, or the 
turpentine - bottle and the mineral paints which are to 
decorate the plaque. Art is a sprite whose acquaintance 
should be cultivated. 



IX. 

ETCHINa. 

"Good etching is the poetry of drawing, written down, 
rapidly in short-hand." No doubt many a very orderly 
mamma, who has had a son or daughter afflicted with a 
mania for etching, as so many young people are now, 
has a vision of bath-tubs misappropriated to mixtures 
of what looked very unlike clear water for cleansing pur- 
poses, and which turned out to have plates of copper inside 
waiting for a bite of acid. Such mammas will blame us 
for calling this a Home Amusement ; they call it — it is to 
be feared — "a Nuisance." And yet what form of Art is 
so near the highest forms of poetry ? The etcher is next 
door to his subject and his jpublic. He has but the ink 
and himself between that cloud-shadow and them. 

Etching is defined by some writers as the stenography 
of artistic thought ; a system of short-hand writing. Given 
a copper plate, an etching-needle, and the jjroper knowl- 
edge — easily learned — of the action of the acid, and etching 
can be done at home as well as crochet or embroidery ; and 
as only the simplest lines and the simplest curves are ad- 
missible, the question of merit narrows itself to one of 
intelligent combination. The best etching is that which 
combines the maximum of speed with the maximum of 
expressional clearness ; so that the landscape may be writ- 
ten on a "monument less perishable than brass," while the 
thought is fresh and vivid. An artist can see in the 



ETCEING. ^ 65 

short-hand of an etching the glory of a sunset amid its 
clouds. 

Highly-elaborated drawings can also be reproduced by 
etchings as in no other way, as we have learned by con- 
sulting the Magazines and Art Periodicals of the day ; and 
although a great etcher must have a genius for it, many 
without genius can learn the art. An etching is not a 
skeleton of a picture, but a resume. Samuel Palmer, Fred- 
eric Taylor, and Hook, in England ; Jules Jacquemart, 
Flameny, Eajou, Boilvin, Le Eat, Hedouin, Greux, Cour- 
tey, Laguillermie, and others, in France, have taught us 
what a beautiful resume it is, not to speak of our own 
gifted interpreters. The original etchers can produce strong 
sentiment concerning life and nature ; and although there 
is at first discouraging uncertainty about results, yet there 
is a great chance of success. 

And the capriciousness of the thing is one of its charms, 
as it is, like poetic expression, dependable upon personal 
thought and feeling. It is like the success which attends 
upon a happy hit in poetry when one makes a good etching, 
yet a certain amount of mechanical exactitude can always 
be acquired. Let the boys and girls of a large family be 
taught etching, and some one will turn out a clever and, 
perhaps, a first-rate etcher. 

It is quite too unfortunate that our young girls in the 
country do not take more to sketching from Nature, and 
to water-color. To sit at one's window, and, with a ''few 
telling touches," to give the trees in the near foreground or 
the distant reach of the river, is the every-day amusement 
of many an English lady. Our first efforts must be la- 
bored, of course ; we must patiently observe and copy what 
we see ; but then comes the attainment of ease, and our 
Home Amusements are infinitely enriched. It is best to 
study at first in single tint until one gets accustomed to 
form, and then to try varied colors. 



i 

QQ HOME AMUSEMENTS. ^ 

The mastery of the three primary colors — yellow, red, j 
and blue — is the Alpha and Omega of painting. As force ■ 
of color is only to be obtained by opposing one of these 
singly to all the others combined, they are consequently all 
present whenever opposition occurs ; and no picture is per- 
fectly pleasing without the presence of all three, even 
though they may be subdued to the most solemn and sober 
undertones. Try the effect of mixing the various colors, 
and preserve the mixtures you find most useful. But this 
is an art which must be learned, and for the elucidation of 
which we have no space here. 



X. 

LAWN TENNIS. 

Akd now we come to what, perhaps, our readers may 
imagine we might have come to before — the out-of-door 
Games and Amusements which radiate from Home. 

Lawn Tennis is so preeminently the game of the present 
moment that we must give it a central place in our volume. 

It has great antiquity, of course. What fashionable 
game has not ? Did not Agrippina play at croquet, and 
Cleopatra institute "Les Graces" ? We know that Diana 
started archery, for isn't she always drawn with a bow ? 
And yet she died an old maid. 

The Greeks styled court tennis as " Sphairistihe," and 
the Eomans called it Pila. It was the fashionable pastime 
of French and English kings. Charles V, of France, and 
Henry V, VII, and VIII, of England, were all good tennis 
players. Who does not remember the insult which the 
French king put upon royal Harry ? 

" Tennis balls ! My lord?" 

It has been justly described as one of the most ancient 
games in Christendom. It became in England the exclu- 
sive sport of the wealthy, owing to the expense of erecting 
and maintaining covered courts ; for in early days we learn 
that it was always played within doors. Indeed, the history 
of France is full of it. The unhappy Charles IX gave the 
order for the massacre of St. Bartholomew from a tennis 
court. The French Eevolution was born in one. 



68 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

But to Major Walter "Wingfield do we owe Lawn Tennis. 
This oflficer, of the First Dragoon Gruards, attempted, unsuc- 
cessfully, in 1874, to procure a patent for a new game. He 
had taken the net out of doors, and no longer did four 
walls encompass the players. A little pamphlet is in exist- 
ence now which fully establishes the claim of this officer 
to the rightful title of inventor of lawn, tennis. It is called 
''The Major's Game of Lawn Tennis; dedicated to the 
party assembled at Nautelywdjin, December, 1873, by W. 
C. W.," and is illustrated with an elaborate pictorial dia- 
gram, containing a sketch of a lawn tennis court, erected 
in a pretty garden. The only difference appreciable to a 
modern player in the appearance of the court is that on 
one side it is divided into two squares, and that on the 
other the server stands in a diamond-shaped space. With 
slight exceptions, the game remains as it did when Major 
Wingfield invented it. 

Now, in 1881, as in the days of Henry III, of England 
(about 1222), it is a favorite with people of superior rank, 
well befitting the tastes of the nobility, in the perform- 
ance of which they could exercise a commendable zeal, as 
also their whole physique ; that is to say, it is the fash- 
ion. The name undoubtedly comes from Tennois, in the 
French district of Champagne, where balls are manufac- 
tured, and where, it is claimed, the game was first intro- 
duced. 

A lawn, well clipped and evenly rolled, is the first 
requirement. The courts should be laid rectangularly. 
The game should be gotten up with reference to the wind, 
the net being set at right angles with it. Thus will be 
avoided the tendency of air currents to carry the balls off 
or beyond the bounds ; and the play will be then against 
or with the wind. In either case its influence can be more 
accurately calculated. 

The lines of boundary and division should be indicated 



LAWIf TENNIS. 69 

upon the greensward by means of whitewash, carefully laid 
on with brush and string. The larger or double court 
should be seventy-eight feet long by a width of thirty-six 
feet, inside measure ; and the smaller or single-handed 
court seventy-eight by twenty-seven feet, inside measure- 
ment. As in the old game of tennis, so in this, the court 
is divided across the middle and at right angles to its great- 
est length by a net, so stretched and fastened to and by . 
two posts, standing three feet outside of the side lines, that ■. 
the height of the net at each post for the double-handed or 
larger court is four feet, and in the middle over the half- 
court line three feet six inches ; and for the single-handed 
or smaller court four feet nine inches at the posts, and three 
feet in the middle over the half-court line. These divisions 
are termed courts, and are subdivided into half-courts by a 
line midway between the side lines, and running parallel 
with the greatest length, which is known as the half -court 
line. The four resulting half-courts are respectively divided 
by a line on each side of the net, parallel to and twenty- 
two feet from it. These two lines, called service lines, it 
may be observed, will then be seventeen feet inside of the 
lines of boundary for»the short sides, known as base lines. 

The implements comprise net, posts, cordage, balls, and 
rackets. The net should be taut, the posts straight, the 
ball hollow, of India-rubber, covered with white cloth ; in 
size, two inches and a half ; weight, two ounces. The racket 
is made with a frame of elastic wood, with a webbing nicely 
wrought -^f catgut. The large-sized rackets made at Phila- 
delphia and in London are the best. 

The players don a costume of flannel for the purpose, 
wearing shoes of canvas with corrugated rubber soles, with- 
out heels. Indeed, a chapter might be written on lawn- 
tennis dresses, aj)rons, and other fancies. But these — so 
they are loose and easy, and not long or cumbrous — may be 
left to the fancy of the individual. 



TO ROME AMUSEMENTS. 

The choice of sides and the right of serving are left to 
the chance of toss, with the proviso that if the winner of 
the toss choose the right to serve, the other player shall 
have the choice of sides, or vice versa. 

There are double-handed, three-handed, and four-handed 
games, each having som^ variations. In the double-handed 
game the players stand on opposite sides of the net. The 
player who first delivers the ball is called the server, and 
the other the striker-out. The first game having been 
played, these interchange ; the server becomes the striker- 
out, and the striker-out the server ; and so alternately in 
subsequent games of the set. The server usually announces 
the intention to serve by the interrogation "Eeady ?" If 
answered aflBrmatively, the service is made, the server 
standing with one foot outside the base line, and from any 
part of the base line of the right and left counts alternately, 
beginning with the right. 

The ball so served is required to drop within the service 
line, half-court line, and side line of the court which is 
diagonally opj)osite to that from which it was served, where 
the service from the base line must fall to be a service. If 
the ball served drops on or beyond .the service line, if it 
drops in the net, if it drops out of the court, or on any of 
the lines which bound it, or if it drops in the wrong court, 
or, if in attempting to serve, the server fails to strike the 
ball, it is a ^' fault." A fault can not be taken, but the 
ball must be served the second time from the same court 
from which the fault was served. 

Though the service is made if the striker-out is not 
ready, the service shall be repeated, unless an attempt is 
made to return the service on the part of the striker-out ; 
which action shall be construed to be equivalent to having 
been ready. ISTo service is allowed to be ^''volleyed" ; that 
is, the striker-out is not allowed to return a service while 
the ball is "on the fly," or before a "bounce." If such 



LAWIf TENRIS. Yl 

a return of service is made, it counts a stroke for the 
server. 

To properly return a service, and have the ball in play, 
the ball is to be played back over the net or between the. 
posts before it has touched the ground a second time, or 
while on the "first bounce," and is subject to no bounds 
other than the side and base lines of the court. After the 
ball is in play, it may be struck while "on the fly," but 
policy would dictate a bounce to determine whether or not 
it has been played beyond the boundaries of the court. A 
ball served, or in play, may touch the net, and be a good 
service or return. If it touches the top cord it is termed a 
''let," a "life," or a "net" ball, and need not be played 
if it drops just inside the net, on the striker-out side, but 
must be served again. Should it fall on the service side, 
or in the wrong court on the striker-out side, or out of 
bounds, it counts a "fault." If, however, it falls so as to 
be a good return, in any stage of the game other than 
service, it must be played as a good ball. In play, if the 
striker-out volleys the service, or the ball in play, or fails 
to return the service or the ball in play, or returns the 
service or the ball in play so that it drops untouched by 
the server, on or outside of any of the lines which bound 
the court, or if the striker-out otherwise loses a stroke, as 
we will find presently, when we consider the conditions 
common to both server and striker-out, the server wins a 
stroke. 

In the handling of the racket the greatest dexterity 
may be attained by careful study and practice. The twist 
ball is a feature of the game which good players utilize to 
the greatest advantage. The uncertainty of its bounces is 
calculated to outwit the most adroit. 

Since, under certain conditions of failure on the part 
of the striker-out, the advantage in count of a stroke comes 
to the server, so, too, the striker-out reaps a harvest if 



72 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

the server serves two consecutive faults, or if tlie server 
fails to return the ball in play, or if the server returns the 
ball in play so that it drops untouched by the striker-out 
.on or outside any of the lines which bound the court, 
or if the server loses a stroke under conditions common to 
both server and striker-out, in any of which cases the 
striker-out wins a stroke. There are conditions under 
which each player loses a stroke : If the service-ball, or 
ball in play, touches the player, or anything worn or 
carried by him, except the racket in the act of strik- 
ing ; or if the player strikes or touches the service-ball, 
or ball in play, with the racket more than once ; or if in 
returning the service-ball, or ball in play, the player 
touches the net with any part of the body, or with the 
racket, or with anything that is worn or carried ; or if the 
ball touches either of the posts ; so if the player strikes 
the ball before it has passed the net, or if the service-ball, 
or ball in play, drops or falls uj)on a ball lying in either 
of the players' courts. So much for the conditions under 
which the players, either server or striker-out, win or lose 
a stroke. 

As for scoring, there are two systems, each of which has 
its adherents. Both should be understood, and the more 
thoroughly the player understands both, the more at ease 
will he be in any company with whom he may be play- 
ing. 

The first plan is this : The first stroke won counts for 
the player, winning a score of fifteen ; the second stroke 
won by the same player counts for that player an additional 
score of fifteen, making a total of thirty ; the third stroke 
won counts for him an additional ten, making the score 
forty. Unless there is a tie of forty, the fourth stroke 
won by that player entitles him to score game. If, how- 
ever, both players have won three strokes, the score is called 
deuce, and so on until at the score of deuce either player 



LAWIi TENNIS. 73 

wins two consecutive strokes, when tlie game is scored for 
tliat player. Six games constitute a " set," and the player 
who first wins them wins the set, unless in case both players 
win five games, when the score is called '^games-all," and 
the next game won by either player is scored advantage 
game for that player. If the same player wins the next 
game he wins the set. If he loses the next game, the score 
is again called "games-all'' ; and so on until at the score 
of games-all either player wins two consecutive games, when 
he wins the set. An exception to this is where an agree- 
ment is entered into not to play advantage sets, but to 
decide the set by one game after arriving at the score of 
games-all. In this mode of scoring both the server and the 
striker-out are entitled to count, while in the " alternative 
method " it is different. 

An alternative method of scoring is as follows, in which 
the term " hand-in " is substituted for " server," and 
"hand-out" for "striker-out." In this system the hand- 
in alone is able t% score. If he loses a stroke he becomes 
hand-out, and his opponent becomes hand-in, and serves his 
turn. Fifteen points won constitutes the game. If both 
players have won fourteen points, the game is set to three, 
and the score called "love-all." The hand-in continues to 
serve, and the player who first scores three points wins the 
game. If he or his partner loses a stroke, the other side 
shall be hand-in. During the remainder of the game, when 
the first hand-in has been put out, his partner shall serve, 
beginning from the court from which the last service was 
not delivered, and when both j)artners have been j)ut out, 
then the other side shall be hand-in. 

The liand-in shall deliver the service in accordance with 
the restrictions mentioned for the server, and the opponents 
shall receive tlie service alternately, each keeping the court 
which he originally occupied. In all subsequent strokes 
the ball may be returned by either partner on each side. 

4 



74 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

The privilege of being hand-in two or more successive 
times may be given. 

What has been said of double-handed games applies 
equally well to the three-handed and four-handed games, 
except that in the three-handed game the single player 
shall serve in every alternate game ; in the four-handed 
game the pair who have the right to serve in the first game 
may decide which partner shall do so, and the opposing 
pair may decide similarly for the second game. The part- 
ner of the player who served in the first game shall serve 
in the third, and the partner of the player who served in 
the second game shall serve in the fourth, and so on. In 
the same order, in all the subsequent games of a set or series 
of sets, the players shall take the service alternately through- 
out each game. 

No player shall receive or return a service delivered to 
his partner ; and the order of service and of striking-out 
once arranged, shall not be altered ; nor shall the strikers- 
out change courts to receive the service Tjefore the end of 
the set. The players change sides at the end of every set. 
When a series of sets is played, the player who was server 
in the last game of one set shall be striker-out in the first 
game of the next. 

A Bisque is one stroke which may be claimed by the 
receiver of the odds at any time during a set, except that 
a bisque may not be taken after the service has been deliv- 
ered. The server may not take a bisque after a fault, but 
the striker-out may do so. One or more bisques may be 
given in augmentation or diminution of other odds. 

Half-fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of the 
second and every subsequent alternate game of a set. 

Fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of every 
game of a set. 

Half-thirty is one stroke given at the beginning of the 
first game, two strokes given at the beginning of the second 



LAWJ^ TUNNIS. Y5 

game, and so on alternately in all the subsequent games of 
a set. 

Thirty is two strokes given at the beginning of every 
game of a set. 

Half-forty is two strokes given at the beginning of the 
first game, three strokes at the beginning of the second, 
and so on alternately in all the subsequent games of the 
set. 

Forty is three strokes given at the beginning of every 
game of a set. 

Half-court is when the players having agreed into which 
court the giver of the odds of 'half-court shall play, the 
latter loses a stroke if the ball returned by him drops out- 
side any of the lines which bound that court. 

If the game is to be umpired, there should be one for 
each side of the net, who shall call play at the beginning of 
a game, enforce the rules, and be sole judge of fair and un- 
fair play, each on his respective side of the net. 

We have followed the best manual and the best opinions 
of the most successful players in the above lengthy ab- 
stract for the use of many who may be confused by the 
very absurd and contradictory rules published in the news- 
papers. These rules of ours are those which were used at 
Newport, at the Casino, during the famous Lawn Tourna- 
ment of 1880, which was so very interesting, and in which 
the victors were rewarded by prizes, from Mr. Bennett, of 
silver pitchers, bracelets, and rings of great value ; and 
which shows that the game of lawn tennis deserved the 
high encomiums pronounced by Henry III on court tennis. 
It is a game of science ; it does exercise every part of the 
body; and it requires skill, good temper, staying power. 
Judgment, and activity. 

Of course, few groups at home will play with the sci- 
ence and skill displayed in these tournaments ; yet the rules 
of the game should be thoroughly learned, and those who 



Y6 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

play scientifically will ayoid those conteutions and disputes 
whicli spoil any game. 

It is better in giving a lawn-tennis party not to invite 
any but those who really are devotees of the game. As to 
others, the absorption of the players makes the party 
stupid. 



XI. 

GAEDEN PAETIES. 

A Gaeden" Paktt is a scene of enchantment, to whicli 
the lawn-tennis net lends an additional grace and yariety. 

A lady, living near a city, who chooses to inaugurate 
the season with a garden party, sends her invitations a 
week in advance, and carefully incloses a card telling her 
guests by what roads, railway trains, and boats she may be 
reached. There must be no confusion or lack of carriages 
at the end of the route. This hospitality must cover every- 
thing. If the weather is fine and the distance short, la- 
dies generally drive to these entertainments in gay dresses 
and bonnets or hats ; for a garden party should look as 
much like a Watteau as possible. Those who have had the 
advantage of seeing a garden party in England — at Hol- 
land House, or at Buckingham Palace — will remember how 
beautiful, finished, and gay a scene it is. A dressy parasol 
and a fan hung at the side are indispensable. Ladies go 
either in the short Amazonian dresses which the practice 
of games has made 'so fashionable, or else in Worth's last. 
and most elegant trailing costumes, trusting to the grass 
being dry, and knowing that they can sit on the piazza. 

Most garden-party givers provide band music, which 
plays either in the grand hall, or at some spot on the lawn 
where dancing can go on. But our turf is not like the 
English turf, and modern dancing is not that springing 
measure of "young Bertine," as she bounds under the wal- 



78 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

nut-trees of Southern France. So we can not count in 
dancing as one of the usual pleasures of a garden party, 
unless a broad platform is laid ; and this has in its way 
^ a very pretty effect under the trees or in a large tent. 

A garden party is for all ages ; so there should be in our 
uncertain climate full provision for the elderly, who can 
not always spend an afternoon on the lawn. Broad piazzas 
are very useful, and much enjoyed by those who fear our 
treacherous malarious soil ; and if one can riot exercise, it 
is better to sit on a piazza than on the grass. 

As it is always prone to rain at picnics and garden par- 
ties, it is better to have the refreshments in the house. 
Gentlemen can run into the banquet-hall and get a plate 
of lobster-salad for a lady, or the waiters can carry the 
refreshments about ; but for a sudden shower of rain to 
descend on a table is miserable, and defeats the object of 
the table. 

The lady of the house, however, often improvises a hasty 
roof or covering for her table, put up by the carpenter at 
a small outlay, if she is determined to have everything 
al fresco. Frozen coffee, iced tea, punch, ice-cream cro- 
quets, salads, jellies, pressed turkey, potted meats, po^te de 
foie gras, and sandwiches, are spread about. Do not • at- 
tempt any hot dishes at a garden party ; they are out of 
place, and impossible. 

The garden party is said to be "the first hybrid which 
unites society and nature." It is a growing taste with us 
Americans, and will grow to be a greater favorite as time 
goes on. The popularity of the game of archery, that 
relic of Eobin Hood and Maid Marion, " that vision of Lin- 
coln green," is now added to lawn tennis, croquet, and 
" les Graces,'^ as one of the most popular features of a gar- 
den party. One would think that there was nothing needed 
but the long sweep of the trees upon the lawn, the vision 
of the distant city, the flower-beds where geraniums and 



GARDEN PARTIES. 79 

calceolaria vie in color, the ^'pleaclied alley," the butter- 
cup in the grass, the Watteau-like picture, or groups of 
gay ladies and gallant cavaliers causing ''unpremeditated 
effects " to make the garden party agreeable. But there is 
always a need of preparation for such a party. No lady 
should trust alone to the power of her guests to amuse them- 
selves. She must do all that she can. 

In the country a lady can wait for a day of fine weath- 
er, and invite her guests only the day before. The grounds 
and garden walks, the lawn tennis, the archery, should all 
be in order, and a few chairs out under the trees. It is not 
long before all her guests begin to enjoy themselves in their 
own way, and to appreciate how much better a room is 
made by the Gothic arch of the trees than by any sort of 
cramped-up house arrangement. 

One can be more general in the invitations to a garden 
party than to any other ; for if people like each other they 
can group together, and if they do not, they can easily walk 
apart, and get rid of each other. In a small room, par- 
ticularly at a dinner party, how two people can glow and 
glare at each other, to the dreadful dismay of the hostess ! 
But at a garden party Nature is too wide for them. They 
are almost obliged to seem amused whether they are or not. 
If not at all amused, they can, however, go and sulk under 
the lilacs. Those fragrant vegetables will not care whether 
the guests sulk or smile. 

Every country house has its charms. How lovely a gar- 
den party can be given at the Locusts, when all those trees 
are in flower, sending down the perfume of Araby the Blest ! 
How the perfume reminds one of St. John's Gardens, Ox- 
ford, when the lime-trees are in bloom, and every bough is 
laden with wild bees who make a music as they sip ! A 
flowering tree is the most perfect thing which Adam and 
Eve saved from Paradise. One seems, in inhaling its fra- 
grance, to have just recovered from a long illness. 



80 • HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

The best part of a spring or early summer garden party 
is this first whiff of fragrance which is brought to the dis- 
used or insulted nostril of the city. We little know until 
then how the most aristocratic of the senses has been 
wronged. "VVe are always, and all of us, most patient over our 
city bad smells until we go into the country and realize 
what a bath of delicious odors a forest is — a bit of wood- 
land, a field of growing grass, one sweet cherry-tree, an 
apple-blossom, a violet ! The perfume of lilacs is the per- 
fume of luxury ; and the first scythe of the mower, as it 
sweeps through the young blood of the grass, reveals a 
thousand scent-bottles all uncorked for our use. A lady 
in giving a garden party should always have a bundle of 
new-mown hay somewhere about the grounds. 

And at the garden party what may not those who sit 
on the benches remember ? All the sprightly, frivolous, 
charming figures who seem to have posed for us at garden 
parties in France ! Philippe d' Orleans and La Phalaris ; 
the Due de Eichelieu and the Abbess de Chelles ; Watteau, 
Voltaire, Carmargo ; Louis XV, with Pompadour and Du 
Barry ; Boucher and Vanloo ; Greuze, Voisenon, and Ber-- 
nis ; Guimaud and Sophie Arnould ; Crebillon, the tragic, 
and Dancourt, the gay ! What a faithful study of naiads 
and hamadryads did the beautiful women of these days 
suggest to the artists at those garden parties when, to- 
ward the end of spring, the trees were in blossom, and 
the enameled grass carpeted' the |)arks ! Madame de Pom- 
padour asked Louis XV to come and see her hermitage ! 
Venus, Hebe, Diana the huntress, the three Graces — all 
were in order ! The garden itself a masterpiece of attrac- 
tion — a wood, rather than a garden — a wood peopled with 
statues, formed of verdant and odorous arcades, of charm- 
ing groves, of dark, shaded retreats. Such was the Pare 
mix Oerfs. 

We think again of the rose-tree of Jean Jacques at the 



GABBEN PARTIES. 81 

hermitage. We remember Dufresny, wlio '^studied love 
in his heart, grandeur at the court, war upon the field of 
battle, architecture in the erection of buildings, nature in 
Ms garden, music in song." Dufresny was in love with 
gardens. A poet, a friend of Louis XIV, he loved roses 
better than any other luxury. It was he who broke up 
the stiff, old-fashioned plan of gardening at Vincennes, and 
introduced Nature with her charming caprices and fairy 
fantasies. It was he who said, " Cultivating roses, mark- 
ing out paths, planting hedges, is the same as writing 
sonnets, songs, and poems." In his day a picturesque gar- 
den was often called " a la Dufresny." Under his rule 
Versailles became what it is. '^ I shall never be poor while 
I have a garden ! " said he to the King. " I find there the 
green vine-tendrils, or the roses, for a crown." To him 
verdant prospects were real terrestrial paradises. 

"We can remember how the boy Florian gathered cher- 
ries, and forgot his Greek and Latin ! We remember him, 
in Voltaire's garden, naming the poppies after the faithless 
Trojans. The most beautiful he called "Hector," and 
then demolished him with a blow from his wooden sword. 
Later, when he had grown up, still wandering in gardens, 
he wrote his eclogues, poems, dramas, fables, and "Numa 
Pompilius." His style has all the tender freshness, the 
brilliancy, the perfume, the clear color, of a "garden 
party," It is an idyl of primroses and dandelions. 

We hardly think of Buffon at a garden party. (When 
Voltaire heard of his "Natural History" — "ISoi&o natu- 
ral,'' said the great wit.) The laborious and tranquil life 
of the great author of the "Garden of Plants" seems out 
of place at a garden party, and yet he lived and wrote in a 
garden. He submitted Nature to a crucible, and tore a 
lily to pieces to see of what it was made ; and yet he 
brought together the flowers and trees of all nations. We 
admire, but do not love Buffon. 



82 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

We cross the Channel and see, in imagination, the 
Princess Anne with Lady Castlemaine and Miss Stuart, 
Lady Churchill, and all their friends, loftily walking in the 
groves and alleys of Spring Gardens, emerging into St. 
James's Park, ^he glories of Bird-Cage Walk come back 
to us. From these models did CoUey Cibber get his "Lady 
Betty Modish," and what a pretty, stylish, affected model 
it was ! Loyely Lady Fitzhardinge was of the Princess's 
party, and later, when Lady Churchill became Duchess of 
Marlborough, what garden parties at Blenheim ! 

A garden party always brings back Lady Mary Wortley 
Montague, who left many an account of those stately old- 
time gardens at Eome, Florence, Naples, Genoa, Avignon — 
not to speak of the early adventures at Twickenham, and 
later at Strawberry Hill. All England is a garden. The 
garden party is possible anywhere. 

And the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire and Mrs. 
Crewe ! How they adorn a garden party ! We almost 
see the splendid cream-colored horses of George III drive 
up past Carleton Gardens, to proceed in solemn state to St. 
James's, as we hear the low, rippling laughter of the two 
beauties in brocade. 

The Prince of Wales forgot his two hundred thousand 
pounds of debts as he received the Buffs and Blues at a 
garden party, which began at noon and continued all night, 
at Carleton House. The Duchess of Devonshire was then 
lady paramount of the aristocratic whig circles, in which 
rank and literature were blended with political aspirations. 
It was she who canvassed for Fox, and allowed the butcher 
to kiss her for his vote ; and to her was paid the compli- 
ment, highly prized, by the link-boy who asked if he 
''might light his pipe at her eyes." These women seem 
to have lived in garden parties. 

Sweet Madame de Sevigne, with her children, at Les 
RocTiers, and later at Paris, talking gayly under the trees 



GARDEN PABTIES. 83 

of her garden, witli Corneille, Eacine, Moli^re, La Fontaine, 
and Boileau, again wins us back across the Channel, and 
back a hundred years or so. 

Garden parties have this advantage : they are like Mad- 
ame de Stael's age — "not dated." They are of all time. 
Madame de Sevigne's garden party comprised Pascal, 
Bourdaloue, Mascaron, Bossuet, the restless De Retz, the 
Scotchman Montrose, La Eochefoucauld, Marshal Tu- 
renne, Le Grand Colbert, and Conde. The ladies were the 
Duchess de Longueville, the political intrigante of the 
Fronde ; the penitent La Valliere ; the heartless Maintenon ; 
Madame de Montespan ; the Comtesse d'Olonne, daughter 
of Madame de Eambouillet, and one of the Precieuses ; 
Madame de La Fayette, the authoress of "Zaide." Alas, 
and alas ! we could not get together such a garden party 
of to-day ! No ! not if we had a fortnight's time before 
us, and all the wealth of the Indies. 

Madame de Sevigne was that delightful combination — 
a beauty, a wit, and a femme cfesprit. As an instance of 
the flattery to which even genius stooped in speaking to a 
monarch who loved flattery and adulation more than any- 
thing, she relates an answer made by Eacine to Louis XIV 
when that sovereign expressed his regret that the poet had 
not accompanied the army in its last campaign. " Sire," 
said Eacine, " we had none but town-clothes, and had 
ordered others to be made ; but the places you attacked 
were all taken before they could be finished." "This," 
adds Madame de Sevigne, "was well received." 

. It is in her famous correspondence with her daughter 
that we find many an account of a garden party, or SifUe, 
which we should gladly have seen, and which at our own 
garden parties we are glad to remember. . Her letters con- 
tain much talk on books, religion, philosophy, and politics ; 
on the frowns and smiles of the great monarch ; the favor 
accorded to this courtier, the disgrace of that ; the mar- 



84 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

riage contracted, tlie Ions mots circulated. But it is upon 
society tliat she is strongest. She loved nature, too, in a 
Frenchv/oman's way. When she walked the garden of her 
uncle, the Abbe, at Livry, or far away in the solitudes of 
Brittany, she rejoiced in the song of the nightingale, in the 
change of the leaf, in the glad freshness of the air. She is 
a poet, without meaning it. Her garden-party letters are* 
her best letters. 

Very stately must have been those garden parties at 
Wilton, when Ben Jonson and Philip Massinger afforded 
amusement to the intellectual great. The Masque, an en- 
tertainment of the rich and noble in the time of Elizabeth 
and James I, called out the powers of these men. The 
actors were people of the highest class, sometimes royal 
personages, the masques always in the open air. Dancing 
and music were introduced. These various actors learned 
their parts under the tutorship of the Master of the Eevels, 
Lawes composed music, to which the poetry of Jonson was 
luting ; and the scenes, decorations, and dresses were con- 
trived and executed by Inigo Jones. Certain great families 
copied the example of the court, and ordered masques to be 
written, and played at their own country-seats ; calling 
in for the choruses the children of the Chapel Eoyal, 
who were regularly trained to take their part in masques. 
\ki Wilton, at Belvoir Castle, at Whitehall, at Windsor, 
l^hese charming but costly diversions were carried on. Ben 
jonson might have been heard scolding and working over 
these garden parties at the house of the beautiful Mary 
Sidney, sister to the author of the ^^ Arcadia," who was 
afterward Countess of Pembroke. She often gave these 
entertainments at Wilton. She there received Queen Eliz- 
abeth, Walter Kaleigh, the Earl of Essex, Will Shakespeare, 
Spenser, and Cecil. Philip Massinger was in her servants' 
hall, a humble retainer. The pious Countess, for her solemn 
hours, had Dr. Donne, most devoted of servitors. The 



GARDEN- PARTIES. ' 85 

death of her noble brother, Philip Sidney, broke her heart, 
and there were no more garden parties at Wilton. We all 
know how Walter Scott has described these garden parties 
in " Kenil worth." Indeed, they make us rather out of love 
with our later attempts. 

Once in our own land a masque was attempted, the 
famous Miscliianza of Major Andre, on the Delaware, at 
Philadelphia . Had not he and Arnold gone out together 
in that rather sad way, we might like to tell of that garden 
party, but we will skip it. 

After all, man was born, the race was started, in a gar- 
den. Adam and Eve held the first garden party. What a 
pity that the serpent crawled in ! 



XII. 

DANCING. 

Dai^cikg is so well known to all young people as a Home 
Amusement that it seems perhaps hanale to describe it. A 
glance at the dances now fashionable may, however, not 
be out of place. • 

From the Virginia Eeel to the German Cotillon is in- 
deed a bound. Our grandfathers were taught to dance the 
Pirouette, the delicate Pigeon- wing — indeed, all the paces of 
the dance such as it was when Vestris bounded before 
Louis XVI. When commanded to dance before him, the 
dancer loftily replied : "The House of Vestris has always 
danced for that of Bourbon." 

Dancing then was an accomplishment. Who does not 
recollect seeing some grandfather still "taking his steps" ? 
Now at the most is permitted the Galop, which has the 
needed element of Jollity without coarseness. It is Tallegro 
of the ballroom. The Gambrinus Polka also lights up the 
ballroom occasionally. With these vivacious exceptions, 
dancing is reduced to the Waltz — la valse a trois temps — 
the various steps of which consist of the Hop-Waltz, the 
Glide-Waltz, the Eedowa, and the Waltz proper. The Bos- 
ton "Dip," the "Eacket," and the "Society," are spu- 
rious. They are not taught by the best dancing masters. 
They are "rowdy," but some people, desirous of notoriety, 
do dance them at the Charity Ball. As a famous dancing 
authority observes, " Did such a style of dancing prevail. 



DANCING. 87 

dancing must go down ; its enemies would have unanswer- 
able arguments against it." The dance of society is now 
quiet, easy, natural, modest, and graceful. Those who 
would make it otherwise must remember that they are copy- 
ing the excesses of the Bal Bfahille. 

The spurious dances mentioned above are ridiculed in 
''Punch" as the ''pivotal" dances. The Eedowa is a 
pretty form of the Waltz. It is composed of a step known 
as the pas de 'basque. Its movements are indicated as a 
fete, a glisse and a coupe dessous ; the feet, however, are 
never raised from the floor. 

The Galop is a great favorite with the Swedes, Danes, 
and Eussians ; it has a Viking force in it ; while the Ee- 
dowa reminds one of the graceful Viennese, who dance it 
so well. The Mazourka, danced to the wild Polish Ma- 
zourka measure, is a more poetical dance, and has many a 
poem written to its honor ; but it rarely appears seen at a 
fancy-dress ball. 

The German Cotillon, born many years ago in a Vien- 
nese palace to meet the requirements of court etiquette, is 
now the favorite dance at home and at balls, as a way of 
finishing the evening. Its favors, beginning with flowers, 
ribbons, and bits of tinsel, have ripened into fans, bracelets, 
gold scarf-pins, and pencil-cases, and many other things 
even more expensive. Favors now often cost 15,000 for one 
fashionable ball. So the German, thus conducted, can 
scarcely be called a Home Amusement. 

To dance by the firelight to the music of the piano is 
a Home Amusement. And if there be a good old kitchen, 
with a hard floor, into which a negro fiddler can be intro- 
duced, and where the contra-danse can be also added, and 
the evening can end with Virginia Eeel — this is a Home 
Amusement. The old-fashioned quadrilles, the Lancers — 
dances in which old and young can join — these are home 
dances ! 



88, HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

"There is sometliing so conscientious about papa's 
dancing," said a profane youtli who was watching his esti- 
mable parent through the decidedly complicated mazes of 
Money Musk. Youth will always laugh at age when it 
attempts the accomplishments. That is a real dance, how- 
ever, when papa, mamma, and the children all Join in, and 
when Jane, aged seven, leads out grandpa. How Dickens 
luxuriates in Mr. Fizziwig's dancing at the Christmas 
supper in the "Christmas Carol" ! Dickens could never 
have made the " German " so pathetic or so funny ! 

All fashion polishes off the edges, and causes an aristo- 
cratic icing to form over the outside of any expression of 
jollity ; so no wonder that fashionable dancing has become 
a glisse. It would not be well to attempt any gay dancing 
at a fashionable ball — that would look like romping ; but 
surely in the old kitchen, in the private parlor, at Christ- 
mas, on birthdays, one is allowed to romp a little. 

The German is a dance of infinite variety, and a leader 
of original fancy constructs new figures constantly. The 
Waltz, Galop, Eedowa, and Polka steps occur in its many 
changes. There is a slow walk in the quadrille figures ; a 
stately march ; the bows and courtesies of the old minuet ; 
and, above all, the tour de valse, which is the means of 
locomotion from place to place. The changeful exigencies 
of the various figures lead the forty or fifty or the two 
hundred people to meet, exchange greetings, dance with 
each other, change their geographical position many times ; 
and the Grand Army of the Eepublic did not have a more 
varied scope. 

The Kaleidoscope is one of the prettiest figures. The 
four couples perform a tour de valse, then form as for a 
quadrille ; the next four couples in order take positions 
behind the first four couples, each of the latter couples 
facing the same as the couples in front. At a signal from 
the leader, the ladies of the inner couples cross right hands. 



DANCmG. 89 

move entirely round, and turn into places by giving left 
hands to their partners ; at the same time the outer couples 
waltz half round to opposite places. At another signal, 
the inner couples waltz entirely round, and finish facing 
outward ; at the same time the outer couples cJiasse croise, 
and turn at corners with right hands, then decliasse, and 
turn partners with left hands. Valse generale with vis-d,- 
vis. 

Another pretty figure is La Corleille, VAtmeau, ef la 
Fleur. The first couple performs a toicr de valse, after 
which the gentleman presents the lady with a little basket 
containing a ring and a flower, then resumes his seat. The 
lady presents the ring to one gentleman, the flower to an- 
other, and the basket to a third. The gentleman to whom 
she presents the ring selects a partner for himself ; the 
gentleman who receives the flower dances with the lady 
who presents it, while the other gentleman holds the 
basket in his hand and dances alone. Counterpart for the 
others in their order. 

Le Miroir is another very pretty figure. The first couple 
performs a tour de valse. The gentleman seats his lady upon 
a chair in the middle of the room, and presents her with a 
small mirror. The leader then selects a gentleman from 
the circle, and conducts him behind her chair. The lady 
looks in the mirror, and if she decline the partner offered, 
by turning the mirror over or shaking her head, the leader 
continues to offer partners until the lady accepts. The 
gentlemen refused return to their seats, or select partners 
and join in the valse. 

Le Cavalier Trompe is another favorite figure. Five or 
six couples perform a tour de valse. Tbey afterward place 
themselves in ranks of two, one couple behind the other. 
The lady of the first gentleman leaves him, and seeks a 
gentleman of another column. While this is going on, the 
first gentleman must not look behind him. The first lady 



90 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

and tlie gentleman whom slie lias selected separate and ad- 
vance on tiptoe on eacli side of the column, in order to de- 
ceive the gentleman at the head, and endeavor to join each 
other for a waltz. If the first gentleman is fortunate enough 
to seize his lady, he leads off in a waltz. If not, he must 
remain at his post until he is able to take a lady. The last 
gentleman remaining dances with the last lady. 

Les . Chaines Continues is another good figure. The 
first four couples perform a tour de valse. Each gentleman 
chooses a lady, and each lady a gentleman. The gentlemen 
place themselves in line, and the ladies form a line oppo- 
site. The first gentleman on the left giv^s his right hand 
to the right hand of his lady, and turns entirely around 
with her. He gives his left hand to the left hand of the 
next lady, while his lady does the same with the next gen- 
tleman. The gentleman and lady again meet, and turn 
with right hands, and then turn with left hands the third 
lady and gentleman, and so on to the last couple. As soon 
as the leader and his lady reach the fourth couple, the sec- 
ond couple should start, so that there may be a continuous 
chain between the ladies and gentlemen. When all have 
regained their original places in line, they terminate the 
figure by a tour de valse. 

A very pretty figure, and easily furnished, is called Les 
Drapeaux. Five or six duplicate sets of small flags of na- 
tional or fancy devices must be in readiness. The leader 
takes a flag of each pattern, and his lady the duplicates ; 
they perform a tour de valse. The conductor then presents 
his flags to five or six ladies, and his lady presents the cor- 
responding flags to as many gentlemen. The gentlemen 
then seek the ladies having the duplicates, and with them 
perform a tour de valse, waving the flags as they dance. 
Repeated by all the couples. 

Another of the favorite combinations is Les Ruians. 
Six ribbons, each about a yard in length, and of various 



dan-ging: 91 

colors, are attached to one end of a stick about twenty-four 
inches in length ; also a duplicate set of ribbons, attached 
to another stick, must be in readiness. The first couple 
perform a tour de valse, and then separate. The gentleman 
takes one set of ribbons, and stops successively in front of 
the ladies whom he desires to select to take part in the 
figure. Each of these ladies rises, and takes hold of the 
loose end of a ribbon. The first lady takes the other set of 
ribbons, bringing forward six gentlemen in the same man- 
ner. The first couple conduct the ladies and gentlemen 
toward each other, and each gentleman dances with the 
lady holding the ribbon duplicate of his own. The first 
gentleman dances with his partner. The figure is repeated 
by the other couples in their order. 

To give a German, a lady should have all the furniture 
removed from her parlors, a crash spread over the car- 
pet, and a set of folding-chairs introduced for the couples 
to sit in. The great trouble of this proceeding is what has 
led to the giving of Germans, in large cities, at private 
balls or in public places. It is considered that all taking 
part in a German are formally introduced, and upon no 
condition whatever must a lady, so long as she remains, in 
the German, refuse to dance with any gentleman whom she 
may chance to receive" as a partner. Every American must 
learn that he should speak to every one whom he meets 
in a friend's house, if necessary, without an introduction, 
as the friend's house is an introduction. So in the Ger- 
man, the very fact that guests are there is an introduc- 
tion. 

In taking a review of the German we may as well say 
that, in a country house, the making of the favors is a very 
pretty amusement. The ribbons are easily bought at the 
village store. The same gold-paper and tinsel which fur- 
nishes forth the private theatricals will do for the orders 
and insignia, and the prettiest bouquets come from the 



92 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

garden. These hastily-improyised home Germans are yery 
amusing and yery pretty. 

The laws of the German are, howeyer, so strict, and so 
tiresome occasionally, that a good many parties haye ab- 
jured it, and now dance some of its figures without a 
leader, and as sporadic attempts. A leader for the German 
needs many of the same qualities as the leader of an army. 
He must haye a comprehensiye glance, a quick ear and eye, 
and a yery great belief in himself. He must haye the talent 
of command, and make himself seen and felt. He must be 
full of resource and quick-witted. With all these qualities 
he must haye tact. It is no easy matter to get two hun- 
dred dancers into all sorts of combinations, to get them out 
of it, to oSend nobody, but to produce that elegant kalei- 
doscope which we call" "the German." 

The term tour de valse is used technically, meaning that 
the couple or couples performing it will execute the round 
dance designated by the leader once around the room. 
Should the room be small, they make a second tour. After 
the introductory tour de valse, care must be taken by those 
who perform it not to select ladies and gentlemen from each 
other, but from among those who are seated. When the 
leader claps his hands to warn those who are prolonging 
the valse, they must immediately cease dancing. 

The religious objection to dancing haying almost died 
out, we recommend all parents to haye their children 
taught to dance. It is a necessary thing toward physical 
culture. It is the most embarrassing thing for a man later 
in life to find himself without the- grace which dancing 
brings. Nothing contributes so much to Home Amuse- 
ment as the informal dance. Nothing can be more inno- 
cent. If, in after-life, this accomplishment leads to late 
hours and to reckless loye of pleasure, we must remember 
that all good things can be abused. 



XIII. 

GAEDENS AND ELOWER-STAISTDS. 

The making of gardens is decidedly and judiciously 
conceded to be a Home Amusement, and it is a pity that 
the new fashion of bedding-out plants, which is so beautiful 
in our public parks and in the pleasure grounds of the 
rich, should have seemed to so utterly do away with a taste 
for the old-fashioned gardens of early English poetry — 
of Miss Mitford, of every sweet New England dame of 
the early days, who had her garden, with its "pretty 
posies," and its bed of sweet marjoram, lavender, and sage. 
It is, however, a hopeful sign to see in remote country 
towns some effort to keep up the old-fashioned idea of a 
pretty flower-plot, and there are always women who have 
the gift of making flowers "blow" and grow in a quiet 
way. 

Yet science can help to bring the old-fashioned garden 
to perfection, as well as to make those artificial beds of 
many-leaved coleus, and steadier groups. Every garden de- 
sign, every project of garden furnishing, and every item of 
garden work, should be governed by this consideration, that 
it is hard work to fight against Natvire, and there is seldom 
thus a conquest worth obtaining. Aim modestly to gain a 
victory over the easily-cultivated native flowers at first, and 
you will secure enjoyment. 

Fortunately, if gardening is pursued with earnestness, 
every soil and every climate will be found to produce some 



94: HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

flowers in rare beauty and in unexpected luxuriance. Geo- 
metric plans, if well carried out, are very pretty, and the 
amateur gardener should learn to mass her geraniums, pe- 
tunias, and pansies, her gladioli, roses, marigolds, and pop- 
pies, so as to give a good and really splendid result of color. 
Nature takes care to send us delicate, pale yellows and 
lilacs in Spring in her sweet dafly-down-dilly, and the ele- 
gant fleurs-de-lis ; and the peonies come on mildly with 
pink and white before they dash into red. Then come the 
Turkish carpets of the portulaca, and so on until midsum- 
mer blazes with poppies, gladioli, and all the gorgeous zin- 
nias. These may all be found in the commonest garden, 
without mentioning the larkspur, the mignonette, the pe- 
tunia and the sweet-pea, and a thousand other charming 
common flowers. The delightful flowers which sow them- 
selves, and those hardy bulbs, the crocus, tulip, lily of the 
valley, snowdrop, and hyacinth, should not be neglected. 
A quantity of white-lily bulbs stowed away in the garden 
reward one year after year with their elegant flowers and 
fragrance at no cost whatever. Pansies, daisies, and poly- 
anthus keep from season to season, and carnation pinks 
need to be two years old before they will blossom, while the 
chrysanthemums make the garden gay in October. 

N"ow for borders to the garden beds. Common grass is 
the best and easiest, as the gardener's boy can cut it with a 
sickle each week and keep it from spreading. Or the little, 
cheap mosses make a pretty border, as does the periwinkle, 
which looks so like myrtle. To attempt a border of the 
gorgeous coleus requires a hothouse and an accomplished 
gardener. In the common large country garden rows of 
hollyhocks, as against a stone wall, or marking out the long 
walks, are most ornamental. Dahlias also are very good in 
groups. Phlox, that much-abused plant, is also pretty in 
masses. Asters too, of many varieties, delight the eye, and 
are easy of culture. In trying to raise shrubs, why not take 



GARDEN'S AND FLOWEB-STANDS. 95 

the American wild pink, or azalea, the laurel and the rho- 
dodendron, and, by studying up their habits, capture 
them ? 

The best soil for the rhododendron is a peat containing 
much sand and much vegetable fiber. Any clean, pulverized 
product of vegetable decay will like them. It is their native 
food. The laurel is capricious, and resents the act of trans- 
plantation ; but they will flourish if planted thick enough. 
They love company, and thrive in it. The best way to treat 
them is to study their quality, and to give them the same 
conditions which made them grow so luxuriantly on the 
hill-side. 

But if even these plants resist you, every lady loves a 
rosarium, and it will go hard with her but she has a rose 
garden somewhere. The gardeners now sell one hundred 
rose roots for a dollar, at Eochester, and if planted out and 
attended to they give a million of dollars in pleasure back 
again. 

Some ladies understand budding, and this is a very in- 
teresting process. In this way an army of sweetbriers can 
be covered with yellow Marshal Neills and royal Jacquemi- 
nots. To propagate by layers is, however, the easiest way, 
if, indeed, one does not prefer to buy them all started. For 
garden roses we need vigorous growers that are sure to 
flower freely, and will contribute to the gayety of the gar- 
den. One of the best — the old-fashioned damask — if set out 
well, will blossom for thirty years. A very effective garden 
of roses is produced by roses pegged down. A deep, rather 
rich, loamy soil is to be prepared, the position selected being 
rather open. When the plants are about a foot high peg 
down the strongest growths. The rose prefers a firm soil. 
Those who desire to have firm blooms the second season 
must cut off a few inches of the 'flowering wood as soon as 
the first bloom is over, and give the beds a thorough soak- 
ing of manure or sewage-water every third or fourth day. 



96 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

But in this, as in every sort of cultivation of an especial 
flower, one should buy an especial treatise on the subject. 

Every lady gardener is troubled by insect pests — the hor- 
rid green canker-worm, the little green louse, the potato- 
bug ; these are everywhere. One fights them with all sorts 
of powders and all sorts of syringes. One very simple cure 
is not generally known. It is to plant a lettuce beside your 
rose ; the vermin prefers the lettuce. It is the same prin- 
ciple which induced the rich owner of a wine-cellar to put 
a barrel of whisky beside his best Madeira ; the whisky 
went, but the Madeira stayed. Dirty flower-pots, filled 
with dry moss, put in the neighborhood, will catch large 
numbers of these gentry, for vermin are fond of dirt. Dust- 
ing with powdered lime, or sulphurized tobacco-dust, will 
kill the insects which destroy the asters. Lettuces also save 
the asters, and a bed of green lettuce is not an ugly "bed- 
ding-out " plant. 

No manure is so good as that common rotted vegetation 
of the forest. Bring a pailful home from every drive, and 
it will make your flowers grow. Nothing, also, so good as 
this for that lovely flower, the pansy, which thus recalls its 
early start in the forest. The pansy does not require much 
water, but in very hot, dry weather the beds should be 
sprinkled at night with a watering-pot. 

But these few directions may seem impertinent, as every 
lady has now the most ample means of reading up about 
her garden. The cultivation of a few flowers in the house — 
window gardening — is by far the more essentially a Home 
Amusement. And, as almost everybody has once bought a 
lot of greenhouse plants but to see them fade before her 
eyes, we recommend to all to either raise a slip from the 
root or to start very young plants in a dark room. Thus 
accustomed to the atmosphere of the house they are to live 
in, they do sometimes live. 

The hardier roses, the calla-lily, all the geraniums (use- 



GARDENS AND FLOWER-STANDS. ■ 97 

ful dear creatures), the violets and the pinks, grow well in 
the house. Hanging pots of calceolarias and healthy- 
primroses are also possible. Some ladies can raise azaleas 
at home, but they are difficult. Then there is the kanga- 
roo-vine, and the Jerusalem, and all the other very hardy 
vines. If a large ivy-vine can be induced to grow over a 
picture-frame, it is a beautiful friend in midwinter. 

Then come the delightful hanging baskets, the Wardian 
fern-cases, the ornamental stands of pot-plants, and the in- 
door box of earth for planting rice and grass seed, the wild 
flowers, which now have become exotics, and all the pretty 
fancies of throwing seed over a wet sponge. Anything 
green in winter looks lovely. ISTothing more charming than 
the branches of nasturtion growing in water can be imag- 
ined. They grow and flower all winter, and the blue con- 
volvulus flourishes well in a hanging basket ; so do the 
common morning-glory and the scarlet bean, both delight- 
ful, airy visitors at Christmas. 

A wire-work ox-muzzle, filled with moss, makes an ad- 
mirable basket. It should be painted dark green, and hang 
over a box of growing flowers, so that it can drip when 
watered and hurt nothing. Put in the ivy-leaved geranium 
to drop over its edges ; fuchsia, variegated geranium, bright 
blue lobelia, and the healthful dracaenas, begonias, and se- 
dums also make a very pretty combination. The gardeners 
give you wooden baskets filled with flowers, and ivy, and 
ferns, but it is Home Amusement to make these baskets 
yourself. 

Fern-cases are delightful as winter friends. Wardian 
cases can be made very cheaply, and their perpetual con- 
densation and shower is a very pretty study in physics. A 
large case, in which large-sized ferns can be accommodated, 
is best. As regards cultivation, the first thing that de- 
mands attention is the drainage of the case ; for, if that is 
defective, neither ferns nor any other plants can be culti- 

6 



98 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

vated successfully. In order to secure good drainage the 
case should be fitted with a false bottom, into which the 
water may drain through perforated zinc or iron, on which 
the rock- work and little bank for the ferns should be placed. 
The false bottom, being a little kind of tank or drainer, 
should be perfectly water-tight, so as to protect the carpet, 
and should have a tap fixed in one corner of it, by means of 
which the surplus water should be drained off. 

To be able to give free ventilation to the plants every 
morning is another essential point, as a stagnant atmosphere 
is as injurious to plants as it is to young children. Over 
the perforated tray of the case a good layer of broken pot- 
tery should be laid, and this should be covered with cocoa- 
nut fiber, on which the rock-work should be laid. The 
space in which it is intended that the ferns are to grow 
should then be filled in ; and nothing is better than peat, 
rotten turf, and sharp grit sand as a soil for ferns. In 
the parts of the case intended for the planting of rather 
strong-^growing ferns a larger proportion of rotten turf 
should be mixed with the peat than in those intended for 
less robust varieties. The adiantum pedatum (maiden- 
hair), capillus veneris, pferis tessulata, eretica, albo lineata, 
polypodium vulgare, acrophorus chair opJiyllus, Mspidus 
anemia adiantifolia, asplenium striatum, hulbiferum, with 
trichomanes and lelazinellas, are all useful, pretty ferns for 
these cases. If the fern-case be large, it might be advisable 
to have an arch reaching from end to end. 

But any intelligent gardener will tell more in an hour 
than we could do in a week on the subject of ferns. Many 
ladies delight in selecting these lovely aristocrats of the 
forest themselves. They find no difficulty in arranging a 
little family of native ferns in an improvised Ward's case ; 
and this pursuit, as a reason for a woodland ramble and a 
subsequent fit of industry on the back piazza, is one which 
has no end as a Home Amusement. 



OAEDENS ARD FLOWER-STAWDS. 99 

Plant-stands for halls are very favorite decorations now- 
adays ; but, of course, the plants must be hardy, as they 
will be subject to sudden changes of temperature. One 
lady made a fine effect by cultivating young pine-trees, 
spruces, and firs in the large stone jars of her hall. Cocoa- 
nut palms or India-rubber plants are the favorite exotics. 
Hardy ferns group in well for these hall plant-stands. In 
the bottom of each jar should be placed some broken pot-1 
tery, for drainage, placed so that the moisture will drain 
down through the fragments without the soil choking the 
jar. Over the potsherds a little cocoanut moss should be 
placed, and then a mixture of leaf -mold, rotten turf and 
peat, and glass-maker's sand, to keep the whole porous. On 
the surface of the pots and between them should be put 
wood moss, as in the case of stands for sitting-rooms. A 
common seed-pan, filled with selaginalla denticulata drop- 
ped into a small vase, has a fine effect ; long sprays grow 
out over the sides of the vase and drop down eight to ten 
inches. 

In an ordinary apartment, where the window-sills are 
not wide enough to hold flower-pots, the plan of wire 
stands is an admirable one for the window gardener. A 
piece of oil-cloth under the stand catches all the drippings, 
and a servant-girl with a wiping-towel can clean up all the 
debris. Soft-wooded plants and those with soft leaves 
should be arranged as near the window as possible ; and if 
rearranged and turned against the light often, so much the 
better. Hard-leaved plants, like ivy and the India-rubber 
plant, may be. put anywhere away from the light. But 
most plants need light before anything. The yucca quadri- 
color, so much used in the decorative house-jars or vases, 
becomes beautifully tinted with crimson if it has enough 
light. Now, if a lady has not room for many rustic jardi- 
nieres and ornamental flower-stands in her room, she can 
have zinc-pans and pots, neatly enameled and painted, set 



100 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

on the floor, in whicli lier larger plants may be put out, 
This is a very good idea for grouping ; for she thus pro- 
duces in her tout ensemble some of the wild confusion and 
grace of Nature. 

A climbing rose should go scattering itself over an im- 
perceptible wire trellis. A geranium should steadily blos- 
som beneath. A group of yucca, agave, dracsena, Jeru- 
salem cherry, should form a distinct and effective grouping 
below. And then beautiful trailing plants should drop 
from hanging baskets, and from every " coigne of vantage." 
Ivy grows well in the shade, and may be employed for 
trailing around sofas, couches, tete-a-tete chairs, and pic- 
ture-frames. Ladies sometimes tie a bottle of water behind 
a picture-frame, and allow the long shoots of nasturtion 
to grow out as if from the wall. The effect is startling. 
Mirrors are often cunningly placed behind a flowering plant 
which is growing in a hanging basket against the wall, thus 
doubling the effect. 

As the days grow shorter, and the T^^nter threatens to 
come upon us apace, we are always tempted to bring in 
from the garden the flowers that we think will last. Just 
before the fatal frosts, roots of mignonette should be planted 
in pots and put in a dark closet for a few days, where the 
plant takes root and accommodates itself to its change of 
base. It will make a room sweet all winter. 

A lady can make all sorts of ornamental flower-pot 
coverings, and herself arrange pretty leather and paper 
standard covers for the ' ugly but useful flower-pot of com- 
merce ; or she can buy at most country potteries some very 
artistic flower-pots — also useful. And to put red, green, 
and blue glass tubes for hyacinths among these gives her 
window a very pretty effect. The very study of color in 
these minor matters adds much to her window garden. It 
is lucky for all lovers of beauty that beauty is now cheap. 
Art is putting her slender foot down everywhere ; and it is 



GARDENS AND FLOWEE-STANDS. 101 

almost possible, in a remote country yillage, to get the 
delicate classic shapes in cheap pottery which the cultivated 
Greeks imagined three thousand years ago. 

For internal decoration by means of cut flowers, it 
seems almost absurd to attempt to delineate the proper 
thing to do ; for, if a lady has taste, she will know with- 
out being told. But some few hints may not appear im- 
pertinent. 

For the breakfast-table and dinner-table fresh flowers 
are almost indispensable. The pretty, cheap, and useful 
combinations of glass and silver, of china and pottery, 
which are made to hold flowers, are innumerable. Select 
a high vase, and fill it every day with fresh grasses, a few 
daisies, or some graceful ferns combined with white lilies, 
and you have always a superb center-piece. 

For the summer, a large lump of ice covered with flow- 
ers, in a silver or glass dish, is delightfully refreshing. It 
also keeps away the flies. In grand party decorations ice 
is now freely used, and if some way can be devised to get 
the refuse water out of the way, it will be always a good 
thing for a country party or at a grand fete at Newport. 
For great blocks of ice covered with vines and flowers, lighted 
from behind, have a splendid effect. They cool the air and 
keep all the flowers fresh. Flowers, when cut, demand 
coolness ; and the effect of the white crystal column is 
always beautiful. 

Some ladies have a large tub put in the corner of the 
room, and the pyramid of ice placed in that. Then the 
tub can be masked by moss, branches of trees, evergreen, or 
any floral device, and the ice is draped with garlands. At 
a fete at Newport, in 1879, this ice decoration was much 
admired. At a ball given by the Prince of Wales to the 
Czarina of Eussia in the large conservatory of the Eoyal 
Horticultural Society of South Kensington, ten tons of ice 
were used to build an ornamental rockery. This was 



102 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

draped with droojDing ferns and graceful vines, and was sur- 
rounded with crimson baize and lighted from behind. 

Nothing is so pretty for the breakfast- or dinner- table 
as a tall, slender vase which carries the floral decoration 
high U13 above the articles of food. Nor is a garden neces- 
sary for this species of decoration. Wild flowers, ferns, 
grasses, and all the beautiful furniture of forest and field, 
make these vases doubly elegant. 

In the rose season — in the sweet days of June — most 
country gardens overflow with the always regal flower ; and 
this is a table ornament of the highest. The great, broad, 
low baskets are best for these full, rich queens of color and 
fragrance. Mass your roses for the middle of the table, 
and have specimen glasses for some of the more rare vari- 
eties. The rose is a cleanly flower, and can be put any- 
where near food. But if an unlucky visitor has the rose- 
cold, then it must be put far away ; for the subtile, pun- 
gent odor of a rose makes the sufferer sneeze fearfully. 
There are some families in which roses are thus tabooed. 

A basket of roses is the prettiest thing in the world ; 
and the lady going into the country for the summer had 
better supply herself with a number of these, with handles, 
from the florist or the basket-maker. If she gets a tin pan 
also fitted in cunningly, she has the loveliest table orna- 
mentation all ready. Her buffets, her parlor-table, her 
piano, her brackets can all hold these pleasant things, for 
which no money need be paid, but which have a value far 
above money. Never give these baskets a heavy, packed 
look, but allow plenty of the rich green leaves of the rose 
to set them off. It seems to us that ladies might create an 
endless succession of Home Amusements by studying how 
to vary the effect of their vases and baskets of flowers. 

A simple bunch of yellow buttercups in the early spring 
will make a purple room perfectly beautiful ; and dande- 
lions can be massed with great effect. Yellow flowers are 



GARDENS AND FLOWER-STANDS. 103 

rare, but necessary to produce fine contrasts of color. We 
all tend too much to the red and white easily - obtained 
effects. They are poor compared with what we can do. 

If Fashion has rather run its worship of the daisy into 
the ground. Fashion might have done a worse thing. We 
can scarcely blame Fashion for going back to this impres- 
sive flower, which in its simplicity has moved all philoso- 
phers, poets, and fortune-tellers to admire and study it. 

It seems to us that something more cheerful than our 
usual Christmas decorations could be invented. We make 
them too somber. Try mixing in the beautiful bitter- 
sweet berries, which are so very easily obtained, and which 
keep all winter. The holly is not so common with us as 
in England ; still, many a ]^ew England swamp produces a 
host of hips and haws and red berries. 

The business of preserving autumn-leaves shows ten fail- 
ures to one success. Yet, when autumn leaves are well pre- 
served, they are very charming means of winter decoration. 
They are luminous at evening, and, mixed with ferns and 
grasses, are perpetual bouquets. But do not varnish them : 
that gives them a waxy effect, which is detestable. Press 
them carefully, and iron them wnder a piece of brown 
paper. That seems to preserve the color. 

Grasses, on the contrary, and a thousand pods and seed- 
vessels, grains and cat-tails, and certain weeds, dry into 
beautiful colors and make most wonderful groups for the 
parlor mantel. The young ladies of our vast continent 
can not do a better thing than to each year add to these 
beautiful and most graceful bouquets, which retain, like 
the fabled Dryads, all the fascination of Nature, even when 
they have passed into sticks and dry leaves. 



XIV. 

CAGED BIEDS AND AYIAEIES. 

Eeom flowers to birds is a natural transition, and we 
enter upon that part of Home Amusement which centers 
around a cage of singing-birds. It is a dreadful thing to 
snare and to imprison an innocent bird ; therefore we be- 
gin with that bird which seems to take most kindly to cap- 
tivity — the canary. 

Trayelers tell us that this yellow darling has gray plu- 
mage at home ; but as we know them they are generally yel- 
low, white, green, or brown. Climate, food, and inter-, 
mixture of breeds has, no doubt, to do with this. The 
canary, which in France is nearly white, at Teneriffe is as 
brown as a berry. AVe can not tell why they are always 
yellow in cages. 

The exact date of the introduction of the canary is not 
known to us. In 1610 the bird was considered a great 
rarity. According to some authors, the island of Elba was 
the first European ground on which the canary found a 
resting-place for its tiny foot. A ship bound for Leghorn, 
they say, haying on board a number of sweet songsters, 
foundered near this island, on which the birds, set at lib- 
erty by the accident, found a refuge ; and the climate was 
so congenial to their nature that they remained and bred, 
and would probably have remained there had not their un- 
lucky, fatal gifts of beauty and song betrayed them to the 
bird-catchers, who hunted them so assiduously that not a 



CAGED BIRDS AND AVIARIES. 105 

single specimen was left on the island. From Italy these 
birds soon found their way into France and Germany, from 
the latter of which countries and the Tyrol we now receive 
our best supplies. Canary breeding and teaching is con- 
ducted in the Tyrol on a large scale, and these trainers 
have the power always to obtain large prices for their birds. 
Canary societies exist in England, and small traders, like 
Poll Sneedlepipes, compete for prizes. • 

Canary critics recognize two varieties — two grand divis- 
ions — in fancy canaries : "gay birds," or "gay spangles," 
and fancy, or "mealy," birds — the first being plain, like 
the original stock, and the last variegated. This also in- 
cludes the Jonques, or Jonquils, as the yellow birds are 
technically called. The varieties of these two grand divis- 
ions are almost innumerable, nearly every year producing 
a new one, which, like a prize flower, is in high favor until 
superseded by a greater beauty. Every year has its fash- 
ionable bird, its professional beauty, its Mrs. Langtry, un- 
til some Mrs. Cornwallis West or Lady Lonsdale carries off 
the palm. Like all hobbies, this is a hobby desperately 
ridden. It is a "Dutch taste for tulips," and immense 
prices are given for prize canaries, even by men who can 
not afford to speculate in such very uncertain stock. 

There are certain standard properties which are always 
considered essential toward gaining a prize. The first 
property considered in the show bird is the "cap," which 
must be of a good gold color. The next is purity of color 
through the whole bird. Then the wings and tail, which 
must be black quite home to the quill. The fourth relates 
to the spangle, which must be distinct. Fifth, size and 
shape. Besides these properties there are what are called 
"additional beauties," not essential to the winning of a 
prize, but adding to a bird's chances. These are five in 
number : pinions, for size and regularity ; swallow and 
throat, for size ; fair breast, for regularity ; legs and flight, 



106 • HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

for blackness. In explanation of this it may be noted that 
from the beak to the back of the neck is called the '* cap," 
and this should be of a clear orange-color, fnll and rich in 
the ground, and with black edges to the feathers. The 
feathers on the loins, or the saddle as it is sometimes 
called, as well as those of the breast, must be free from 
black, while the wings must have no admixture of any 
other color. No bird can fairly compete for a prize which 
has not black on the stock or neb of the back, flight, or 
tail feathers, or that has less than eighteen flying feathers 
in each wing or less than twelve in the tail. Such, lady 
bird-fanciers, is a prize canary in England ! 

Holborn is the great canary mart. In St. Andrew's 
Street every third or fourth house is occupied by a dealer, 
and those who desire to possess a first-rate singer should 
visit that street. It is best to go by gaslight, when all the 
birds are on the twitter. 

Now, in America we have the plain yellow bird, with no 
admixture of black ; and yet the same conditions seem to 
be observed as to his treatment. Sacrifice the beauty of 
your bird to his song, which is his chief accomplishment. 
He should have a comfortable mahogany cage, and be al- 
lowed to step into it of his own accord. It should be well 
furnished with seed and water. Place a light in front of 
the cage, and he will begin to sing. A single hemp-seed or 
a morsel of chickweed will induce the little prisoner to sing 
almost immediately. They are very amiable and happy in 
captivity. 

The blackcap, called the *' mock-nightingale," is a very 
charming household pet, if he will live. His power of 
song is almost equal to that of the nightingale. He is 
sometimes called ''the English mocking-bird," and he imi- 
tates any songster whom he may hear — blackbird, thrush, 
or meadow-lark. They are by no means plentiful birds, 
and they bring a good price in the market. They are 



OAQED BIRDS AND AVIARIES. 107 

about the same size as the linnet, and the prevailing colors 
of the plumage are ashen-gray and olive-green. The old 
birds feed their young on caterpillars, moths, and other 
insects. They can be reared, however, on bread and milk. 
If brought up with a canary or a nightingale, they will ac- 
quire a beautiful song composed of their own natural notes 
and those of these brilliant performers. This bird has been 
known to live twelve or sixteen years in confinement. It 
demands some sort of fruit, like cherries, currants, or rasp- 
berries in summer ; a bit of apple, pine, or orange in win- 
ter. To keep it in perfect health, it must have an iron 
nail in its cup of water. 

But chacun a son gout. Every lady has her preferences 
as to her feathered favorites. Suffice it to say a few words 
as to the care of these poor little creatures. 

Birds are naturally tender things. They are not born 
to live in cages ; therefore they should be especially cared 
for. Domestic pets are apt to come to untimely ends, par- 
ticularly if left to the care of servants, who regard them as 
a burden and a nuisance, and too often cruelly neglect 
them. Birds in captivity are very liable to diseases which 
do not attack them in their wild state ; and in the various 
casualties which endanger their prison life, their owners 
should seek to protect them and to cure them. Let it be 
one of the Home Amusements for the lady to feed her pet 
canary — to clean its cage, or see that it is done. We have 
seen a little boy of seven take such care of his pet canary 
that he shamed all the older people in the house ; and a 
happier bird never lived. 

If you keep but one bird in a cage in very hot weather, 
his cage should be cleansed once a day. If you minister 
personally to the comfort of your bird, he will grow very 
much attached to you. If the perches are not kept clean, 
the birds become afflicted with the gout and other mala- 
dies, resulting in the loss of toes. 



108 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

Wooden cages^ especially of maliogany, are tlie best, as 
they are less likely to harbor insects. If of fir or soft wood, 
the cage should be painted green. The wires of a cage 
should never be painted, as the wire being non-absorbent, 
the bird pecks off and eats the paint, which poisons it. 
Japanned zinc cages are yery well. A cage should not be 
too open. There should always be a snug corner or 
sheltered place, where the bird can retire and shun ob- 
servation. It is great cruelty to hang a cage in the sun 
unprotected. Eemember that in their free state birds seek 
the shady tree. In a shower always bring your birds in- 
doors, for they are apt to take cold if wet in an imprisoned 
state. 

It is a pity that more of our country residents have not 
the idea of an aviary. It is so very pretty — an abiding- 
place of beauty, love, song, and happiness. Surely it does 
not cost so much as a greenhouse. 

The model aviary is built of brick or stone, iron and 
glass, with a stove and pipes fitted to keep it of an evpn 
temperature all winter. The floor should be an earthen 
one, beaten hard, like the floors of some barns. Bricks are 
too cold. Planks harbor insects, retain bad smells, and 
form coverts for rats and mice. The roof of the aviary 
should be semicircular or shelving, with vines and flowing 
creepers trailing over it, so that there shall be a rustle of 
green leaves steeped in sunshine, and air laden with sweet 
perfume to delight the birds within. There should be 
also creepers and shrubs growing inside for the birds to 
nest in. Perches and wicker baskets with horse-hair 
and wool should be left around, and there should be a 
small marble basin and fountain in the middle, of 
which the water should be always fresh and changing for 
the birds to drink. This is, of coiirse, a very magnifi- 
cent aviary, costing money. But wh.at an addition to 
Home Amusements to care for the happy family within ! 



CAQED BIRDS AND AVIARIES. 109 

The birds can be of all sorts. At the period of migra- 
tiou — about tbe last of August — all birds kept in con- 
finement show a great desire to get out, and often beat 
themselves to death against the walls of their cages. In 
this time of ardent enterprise the top of the aviary or the 
cages should be covered with dark cloth, and the poor 
things shut out from the light. 

A much cheaj)er aviary is built in the form of a large 
cage on the top of a tree, with open exit and entrances, 
fitted up with every convenience of bird-furnishing, and 
visited twice a day by the boys of the family. Here many 
birds come to lodge and get tamed, as the Indian does by 
having a house and garden, and often one pair of birds 
comes back several times. This is a charming sort of avi- 
ary, and very much to be commended. What romantic 
tales of a wayside inn do the robin redbreasts and orioles 
tell the peeping boy as he goes up the ladder to feed his 
familiar friends ! It is the prettiest sort of correspondence 
with Vinconnu ! 

It is a curious thing that the lungs of birds in captivity 
always suffer from impurity of air, especially when the 
temperature is at all varied ; this must be one of the points 
very carefully attended to. 

For food — ^we now are getting to a very creepy stage of 
our narrative— meal-worms, ugh ! are the piece de resis- 
tance ; but canaries, goldfinches, bullfinches, linnets — all, 
God bless them ! — prefer seed ; while chaffinches, buntings, 
and the whole tit family and larks must have seeds, in- 
sects, and fat meat — namely, worms. The nightingales, 
thrushes, redbreasts, blackcaps, must have worms, crickets, 
cockroaches, and ant-eggs. The maggots of the blow-fly 
and all such tidbits, meal-worms, and flesh-maggots must 
be kept in reserve ; and this kind of housekeeping is apt to 
shock the delicate sense. Let the boys of the family attend 
to this part of the birds' diet. Boiled cabbage, green peas. 



110 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

all sorts of pudding, dry bread, and a little finely minced 
cooked meat, bread-crumbs mashed up and scalded in milk, 
milk itself, hemp-seed, a little chickweed, lettuce, and 
cresses, can be given to birds with advantage. 

The bathing of birds must be done with great skill and 
wisdom. After the operation of a warm bath, with soap, 
which should be given to nestlings who are troubled with 
vermin, great care must be taken that they are not chilled, 
as death will be the result. Wrap them up, like little babies, 
in flannel. 

In teaching them to sing, the voice, the piano, and flute 
are all good teachers. The patient and music-loving Ger- 
mans teach all birds to sing. It should be begun in the 
morning early, when the bird is hungry; and his lesson 
should not last more than an hour. 

Early aud regular attendance, gentleness and kindness, 
are the rationale of bird-tending, as of nearly everything 
else ! 

Those half-captives, the pigeons, should be around every 
country house. How beautiful they are in Venice ! the 
pigeons of St. Mark, which have swooped about that storied 
piazza for so many years, because regularly fed there. All 
boys should learn to cultivate them ; to have the lovely 
shifting luster of their necks lighting up the ground and 
making gay the twilight. How proud and pompous are the 
pouters ! how gentle the ringdoves ! and how pretty the 
whole family ! Peacocks are very stately visitors, and, ex- 
cept for their horrid shrieks, are especially to be commended. 
The old ruffled turkey-gobbler has his charms ; and the 
pages of Hawthorne teach us how very amusing a group of 
hens and chickens may become. We advise every family 
to have as many birds as they can possibly feed ; for every 
bird is a study, from the blink-eyed owl which hides in the 
fir-tree, to the poor old goose that quacks and hobbles toward 
the pond. Indeed, the aesthetics are all pretending that 



I 



CAGED BIRDS AND AVIARIES. HI 

the goose is the most beautiful of them all ! — a perfect love, 
a type, is a goose, since Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway 
came in. But we still prefer the stately swan, of which 
splendid specimens are now beginning to add their attrac- 
tions to our inland lakes. The goose is all yery well in 
her way, but the swan is better. 



XV. 

PICNICS. 

Peehaps it is not well to class . among Home Amuse- 
ments a series of entertainments which imply, at first sight, 
the getting away from home. But, as the basket of lunch- 
eon has to be packed at home, and the best part of a picnic 
is the getting home again, we must be permitted a diver- 
gence. 

It is curious to see how emphatically fond of picnics the 
Americans are. A uniyersal national hunger seems to seize 
the tired cit as the first warm day of May beams upon us. 
They "babble of green fields." Best of all charities those 
which send the poor children off, on boats and trains, for a 
whiff of pure air ! It is the blessed privilege of the rich to 
thin out the crowded tenement, and to send the overplus of 
an irrepressible civilization back to Nature for a moment. 

But, for a Home Amusement in the country, what can 
compare with the joy of getting ready for a picnic ? The 
baskets for the provisions (and be sure, Mary, not to forget 
the salt or the sugar), the coffee-pot that will stand being 
poked down into the wood-coals, the fine old swinging iron 
kettle, the bread, the knives, and the pail of ice. Ah ! 

Then, as to carriages. Not the luxurious cushioned 
barouche, but the shabbiest old rattletraps about the place 
are the proper ones. A good old hay-wagon is the very 
best — if it have hay in it. It may do very well at Newport 
for the luxurious to drive out to one of Mr. Bennett's pic- 



PICNICS. 113 

nics in a four-in-hand or a drag, or a Victoria or a barouche ; 
but in the country take the buckboard, the old Eockaway 
wagon, which holds nine — ^the more the merrier — the farm- 
wagon, and the market-cart. Filled with youth, beauty, 
and Jollity, these become the chariots of Apollo. 

It is not always easy to get mamma to a picnic ; but it 
is good for her, and for all the others, if she will go. She 
is apt to be anxious about rain, and is afraid of farmer Bell's 
bull ; and she should be allowed to go in an easy carriage. 
She also fears to take cold, and is mightily frightened at 
those crazy boats on the lake. But it is better for all parties 
if these fears are assuaged and she really goes. The change 
does her good, and she acts as a temporary restraint on the 
too volatile spirits of the party. 

Another power hard to coerce is Statira, who is the head 
of the commissary department. Statira, cook and factotum, 
was brought up on the wrong side of a mullein-patch her- 
self, and she is not in love with the country. She. remem- 
bers the woods as a place where she went to look, in her 
youth, for recalcitrant cows ; and in winter, how cold and 
bleak the woods were ! Her present warm and cultivated 
kitchen, with stationary wash-tubs, is to her a far more 
agreeable spot. She hesitates, as the young people ask for 
her delicate apple-pies and her delicious cakes, " to cram 
into baskets," to " eat out in the pasture," as she sniflQngly 
avers. 

However, although Statira is a greater tyrant than N'ero, 
the young people prevail, and the picnic gets started some- 
how. What a jolly hour is passed in driving through the still 
valley to the brow of yonder hill, which commands a view 
of the whole country ! Then Susan, the thoughtful one, 
dreads lest the coffee-pot has been forgotten. Hurried 
search ! The coffee-pot is found under a back seat. Hap- 
piness restored, the songs go on, and the murmuring pines 
and the hemlocks take up the wondrous tale. 



114 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

Then the party arriye at the lake. The girls take off 
their hats. The winds play with the " tangles in Nerea's 
hair." The picnic is a nice opportunity for a pretty foot, 
a fine figure, and a splendid head of hair — so it is said. 
Then come rambles into the forest. 

That is a pretty story of a nymph who appeared on the 
edge of a forest, but who disappeared as she was followed, 
until, at last, as her lover pursued her farther into the 
forest, he threw his arms about a white hawthorn-tree. It 
is the world's earliest romance that the first courtship took 
place at a picnic. Koses and briers twine around lovers 
for ever, and the lotus and the buttercup tell the same 
story. 

Picnics are healthy ; l)ut should be appropriately dressed. 
Balmoral boots, broad hats, and flannel dresses, warm, 
plain, and serviceable. A white Marseilles which will wash 
— ^percales and cambrics and ginghams will do ; but no 
finery should be allowed. At Newport one may try the 
Watteau combination of brocade and satin, with fine old 
house, grounds, and trellised arcades. But at a country 
picnic Watteau dresses are out of place. Our climate is 
too fitful for safe picnicking, as we dread rain. In Eng- 
land they do not care, but lunch at Ascot, with the rain 
pouring into the champagne. But here we need to go 
prepared with aquiscutums and umbrellas, and a neighbor- 
ing barn is well in the near distance. 

It is a common want, this need of the confessional of 
Nature. We leave our morbid fancies, our discontents, in 
th-e bosom of our dear common mother, and we come back 
as cheerful as is the dappled deer. We like to go back to 
that idyllic spot where the race started. 

In the spring certain natures get frisky, like the colts. 
One pasture will not hold them. We get tired of white 
man's work. It was a true reading, of the human heart 
which made the Greeks place Apollo with the shepherds of 



PICNICS. 115 

Admetus, and Jove stooping to the people of the hill-sides. 
" The populous all-loving solitude " of Nature draws us 
with a potent hand. Our houses are a false shell. Tita- 
nia's subjects will rebel. That rural solitude, which has no 
conventionality ; that desert rock, against which the noisy 
wave of human folly breaks itself ; the dense forest, where 
is sung the mighty hymn of the pines ; tha brow of the hill 
which the sun kisses last ; the lone seashore ; the distant 
heath ; that cloud-shadow on the mountain — these are all 
necessary to us once a year. We must go once to ''La 
rocTie qui pleure." We must go where the forest-growths 
expand in all their strength and splendor. We must find 
the shyest wild flower, the most untamable vine. It is in 
the fable of Daphne that we read the deep significance, the 
poetry, the true meaning of our love of the picnic. 

Who of us — comfortable and well. housed — but has in 
some moment of nomadic instinct envied the tramp and 
the gypsy their life of chapleted ease, as they lie on the 
greensward, hugging dear mother Nature to their very 
bosoms ? Who has not some wild, untamed blood in his 
veins — some fellowship for the Indian — some desire for 
the flitting caress of the passing breeze, or the somber greet- 
ing of the mountain shadow ? 

But no more poetry, if you please. We are getting 
hungry. Where are those baskets ? Ah ! the cold roast 
beef, the wing of a chicken, and the salt, not forgotten ! 

Those hard-boiled eggs — ^how good they are ! So glad 
that chicken-raising has been one of our Home Amuse- 
ments ! Just a high picket-fence, a few good hens, some 
boxes, and a little attention, and what eggs these are ! 
Mamma will not, however, eat them ; she says they are un- 
wholesome. But she takes a piece of the breast of a noble 
pullet, and a cup of coffee in a tin mug, made by Sam, best 
of cooks, amateur — college-bred cook — who has boiled it 
under the trees ! and laid the grounds with a dash of cold 



116 EOME AMUSEMENTS. 

water. Sam puts his own clearness and strength, into the 
coffee. 

And now for an hour's reverie by the side of the lake ; 
and then a rough-and-tumble drive home ! How tired, 
ragged, jagged, disheveled, and happy we are as we get 
home ! 

Statira has built a splendid wood-fire for us, and has a 
sujoper of broiled chicken, cold ham, preserves and cream, 
baked potatoes, and toast, and hot biscuits which might 
tempt the virtue of an anchorite. We have no such proud 
resistance. "We have brought an appetite from the place 
where they make them ; and we can eat hot biscuits and 
still wrap the drapery of our couch about us and lie down 
to pleasant dreams. 

A picnic is, therefore, a Home Amusement. It has home 
at both ends ; else it would not be a picnic. 



XVI. 

PLAYING WITH FIEE. CEEAMICS. 

Now let us ascend from these trivialities to the consid- 
eration of the great subject which has been more talked of 
and dabbled in for the last seven years than any accomplish- 
ment ever was, before or since. The splendid display of 
Ceramic Art at our great Exposition of 1876 no doubt had 
its share in creating that intense interest in the subject 
which has been felt everywhere. 

How it came into the category of Home Amusements we 
hardly know, unless the art schools stimulated the pursuit. 
But now we do know that nearly every lady paints a plate, 
from grandma down to the smallest child. Especially has 
it become the pastime of middle-aged ladies, who have got 
through with the work of life, and have much leisure on 
their hands. It is one of the many accomplishments which 
has taken the place of the German wool worsted abomina- 
tion, the canvas roses, and counted out violets. 

"Home would be happier were it not for the smell of 
turpentine," said a lively girl as she found her grand- 
mother, mother, and sister all hard at the plaques. It is 
true, this pungent liquid is necessary, and the china after 
being painted has to be baked — two very unpleasant accom- 
paniments. But let us see how it is done. 

One needs, first, a porcelain palette ; a glass slab about 
eight inches square ; several small and medium-sized cam- 
el's-hair brushes ; several blenders, large and small ; a quart- 



118 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

bottle of spirits of turpentine ; a quart-bottle of alcohol ; a 
small bottle of oil of turpentine ; one of oil of lavender ; 
one of copaiba ; a steel palette-knife, also one of horn or 
ivory ; a rest for the hand while painting, made of a strip 
of wood about an inch and a half wide and twelve inches 
long, supported at each end by a foot an inch and a half 
in height. A flat ruler or thin strip of wood may be used 
for plates, or any flat piece having a raised edge, and may 
be found more convenient than the cumbrous rests. A 
fine needle, set in a handle, for removing particles of dust 
which may settle in the painting, and a small glass muUer, 
are required. 

The china used for decoration must be of the finest 
quality, and free from spots. The hard porcelain of French 
manufacture is the best for this purpose. The mineral 
paints bought in tubes (those of Lacroix, of Paris, being 
the best) are the colors which stand fire. Brushes, as for 
water-color painting, are used. Small camel's-hair brushes 
with square ends may be had, which will do for blending 
when necessary in fine work. 

In tinted surfaces and borders large blenders are neces- 
sary. The brushes used by gilders, and called "trade- 
gilders' brushes," make good blenders ; No. 9 is a very use- 
ful size. In placing the color on these surfaces, a broad, 
flat camel's-hair brush, rather more than an inch in width, 
should be used. In narrow bands and lines, brushes of suit- 
able size with very long hair and square ends are employed. 
The colors most in use are : dark carmine, flesh-red, 
capucine-red, dark red, brown, iron-violet. In purples — 
deep purple, dark golden violet. Blues — sky-blue, dark 
ultramarine, deep blue. Greens — grass-green, brown green, 
apple-green. Yellows — mixing yellow, ivory-yellow, jon- 
quil-yellow, orange-yellow. Browns — dark brown, yellow 
brown. Blach — ivory-black. Permanent white ; pearl-gray ; 
black gray. 



FLAYING WITH FIRE. OERAMIGS. 119 

Now, in commencing to paint a design on china, tlie 
first thing to be done is to sketch the outline. The best 
"way to do this is to prepare the china by rubbing the sur- 
face with spirits of turpentine, and, after having left it a 
few minutes to dry, draw the design upon it very lightly 
with a hard lead-pencil. Alcohol may be used for the same 
purpose, and has the advantage that it is not so liable to 
catch the dust. The surface, however, does not receive the 
marks of the lead-pencil so well as when it is prepared with 
turpentine. 

Lithographic crayon may be used, and without any 
preparation ; but the outline is not so delicate as that drawn 
with the lead-pencil. 

If the subject is a difficult one, as, for instance, a design 
containing several figures, time may be saved, and liability 
to error avoided, by tracing the design, which insures the 
correct relative position of the figures, and tends to pro- 
duce the object desired — a correct copy of the original. It 
is better, however, to sketch simpler subjects direct on the 
china. It is commonly supposed that a tracing is of great 
assistance to any one unskilled in drawing ; but if one is un- 
able to draw a correct outline, it is hardly possible that the 
painting will be good. It is so very easy to lose the out- 
line in working that, after all, a tracing is but a slight in- 
dication, which has for its principal use the placing of the 
design in exactly the right position on the plate or other 
object to be decorated. 

There are various ways of tracing, the simplest and best 
of which is the following : Lay a piece of transparent paper 
over the design to be copied, and trace the outlines very 
carefully with a hard lead-pencil. Then turn the tracing- 
paper over on any white surface, and go over all the lines 
on the reverse side with a soft pencil. You can now lay 
the tracing right side up on the china, which has been 
previously prepared for the lead-pencil with turpentine. 



120 EOME AMUSEMENTS. 

and having placed it in exactly the right position, secure it 
Tby means of bits of modeling-wax or gummed paper at the 
corners, and pass over the lines with a hard point, or rub 
the entire surface with a rounded instrument ; the handle 
of the palette-knife may be used for this purpose. This 
will transfer the pencil drawing to the surface of the china. 

The more delicate the outline the better, provided it is 
more plainly visible, as a heavy, dark, or colored outline 
sullies the colors used upon it, and causes much annoyance 
in working. Although it may disappear in the firing, it is 
better to avoid it. Faulty lines in the tracing may be rec- 
tified by the use of a sharpened stick of soft wood moist- 
ened with turpentine. 

If tube-colors are used, and found difiicult to lay, a drop 
of oil of turpentine may be added to the turpentine. Care 
should be taken, however, to avoid too much oil,«as it ren- 
ders the colors liable to blister in the fire. The use of clove- 
oil as a medium is advised by some. The color can, perhaps, 
be more easily laid with it .than with spirits of turpentine. 
It does not dry so quickly, however, and, unless recourse is 
had to the process of drying the work with the aid of -an 
alcohol lamp, its use involves tedious waiting. It is better 
to use turpentine and finish the work at one sitting. The 
drying of colors is affected by the state of the atmosphere. 
If, during the progress of the painting, it is found to be 
difficult to work over the colors first laid — which are indeed 
very liable to come up — the piece of china may be placed 
in a moderately warm oven to dry before proceeding. On 
being taken out of the oven, the colors will be found to 
have lost their gloss, if perfectly dry, and, perhaps, will have 
changed their hue. No alarm need be felt at this, as they 
will return to their former brilliancy when fired. But here 
we come to a great trouble. 

The chance of a piece " firing" well is one of the great 
trials of the china painter, and is beyond her control j but 



PLAYING WITH FIRE. CERAMICS. 121 

this is always counted in. It is best to send the piece to a 
pottery to be burned. A cup containing turpentine should 
stand near the working table to wash the brushes ; and 
after using a color containing iron, the brush should be 
carefully washed before it is charged with one which does 
not contain iron, or if white is to be used. The brushes 
ought not to be too small, and the colors should, as far as 
possible, be laid in broad washes, and decided touches placed 
lightly and quickly, and not overworked. The use of the 
blender may be resorted to if necessary, especially in laying 
the first washes ; although it is better to ayoid using it 
afterward, if possible. 

The same rules may be applied to china painting as to 
water-colors, to which it bears a strong resemblance. The 
greatest art consists in placing each touch where it should 
go, and leaving it ; not spoiling it by uncertainty, or de- 
grading the tint by overwork. In fine work, lining and 
stippling are necessary in finishing, but should not be car- 
ried to excess or made too apparent. These latter processes 
are, perhaps, more indispensable in preparing work for a 
single firing, as it is very difficult to lay repeated washes 
over one another ; the under-tint comes up so readily, 
especially when it is not thoroughly dry. The same place 
must never be passed over by the brush twice in immediate 
succession, as the under-tint will certainly come np, and 
the blot caused in the painting will be difficult to rectify. 
It is of no use to attempt it while it is wet. Work on some 
other part, and then go over it, or first dry it in the oven. 

Some of the tube-colors may require to be rubbed down 
after being taken from the tubes. This will be especially 
necessary in the case of the carmines and the whites. A 
horn or ivory palette-knife should be used with these colors, 
as well as with the blues, and all colors containing no iron. 
Mixtures of colors on the palette may be rubbed down oc- 
casionally, or mixed with the brush before using, to prevent 
6 



122 HOME AMUSEMENTS. ' 

them from separating themselves into their component 
parts. 

Too much turpentine should not be taken into the brush 
when it is to be charged with color. Dip it into the tur- 
pentine, and remoye the surplus moisture by drawing the 
brush over the edge of the vessel containing it before taking 
up the color from the palette. The tint may be tried first 
on the edge of the plate. Surplus color or moisture may 
be removed by touching the brush upon a muslin rag, which 
should always be at hand for the purpose of wiping the 
brushes. 

After using, the brushes should be washed in alcohol. 
The bottle containing it should be kept tightly corked, as 
it evaporates very quickly when exposed to the air. Care 
must be taken that no drops of the alcohol drop upon the 
painting, as it will immediately remove the colors from the 
surface. When the large brushes are cleaned after being 
washed in the alcohol, the hairs should be spread apart, and 
the fingers passed lightly over them until they are dry ; 
otherwise the hairs may stick together in drying, and the 
brush be rendered unfit for use. Washing in alcohol will 
prevent the turpentine used in painting from injuring the 
brushes, as it would if allowed to remain in them. The 
tube-colors should be preserved from heat as far as possible. 

We have taken these rules, partly from personal experi- 
ence, partly from the best manuals, and the china painter 
can begin on them. But a few lessons from a master are 
very valuable, and the best of all teachers — patience — will 
help the young and inexperienced better than any written 
directions. 

We would like to say a few words more on the all- 
important subject of firing. "The Amateur's Miniature 
Kiln," now sold by the Decorative Art Society, and by the 
patentee. Miss N. M. Ford, Port Richmond, New York, 
enables the amateur to fire small articles of decorated china 



PLAYING WITH FIRE. CERAMICS. 123 

witli perfect success. If near a large city, it is better to 
send the plaques to a large establishment where they are in 
the habit of baking them. 

The amateur has to make up her mind to a great many . 
failures at first, but after the accomplishment is somewhat 
conquered, it is an inexpensive and delightful addition to 
Home Amusements. 

No one should, however, attempt to paint upon china 
who does not know first how to draw. The hand should 
be skillful on paper before it touches the flat brush ; for 
the outlines, while seemingly coarse, must be very expres- 
sive, and very certain. 



XYII. 

ARCHEEY. 

Fashiok has again brought round as one of the Home 
Amusements this pretty and romantic pastime, which has 
filled the early ballads with many a picturesque figure. 
Now on many a lawn may be seen the target and the group 
in Lincoln green. Indeed, it looks as if Archery were to 
prove a very formidable rival to Lawn Tennis. 

The requirements of Archery are these : First, a bow ; 
secondly, arrows ; thirdly, a quiver, pouch, and belt ; fourth- 
ly, a grease-pot, an arm-guard or brace, a shooting glove, a 
target, and a scoring card. 

The bow is the most important article in archery, and 
also the most expensive. It is usually from five to six feet 
in length, made of a single piece of yew, or of lance-wood 
and hickory glued together back to back. The former is 
best for gentlemen, the latter for ladies, as it is better 
adapted for the short, sharp pull of the feminine arm. The 
wood is gradually tapered, and at each end is a tip of horn, 
the one from the upper end being longer than the other or 
lower one. The strength of bows is marked in pounds, 
varying from twenty-five to thirty pounds. Ladies' bows 
are from twenty-five to forty pounds in strength, and those 
of gentlemen from fifty to eighty pounds. One side of the 
bow is flat, called its "back" ; the other is rounded, called 
the " belly." !N"early in the middle, where the hand should 
take hold, it is lapped round with velvet, and that part is 



ARCHERY. 125 

called the "handle." In each of the tips of horns is a 
notch for the string, called the "nock." 

Bow-strings are made of hemp or flax — the former being 
the better material ; for though at first they stretch more, 
yet they wear longer and stand a harder pull, as well as 
being more elastic in the shooting. In applying a fresh 
string to a bow, be careful in opening it not to break the 
composition that is on it. Cut the tie, take hold of the 
eye, which will be found ready worked at one end, let the 
other part hang down, and pass the eye over the upper end 
of the bow. If for a lady, it may be held from two to two 
and a half inches below the nock ; if for a gentleman, half 
an inch lower, varying it according to the length and 
strength of the bow. Then run your hand along the side 
of the bow and string to the bottom nock. Turn it round 
that, and fix it by the noose, called the "timber noose," 
taking care not to untwist the string in making it. This 
noose is simply a turn-back and twist without a knot. 
When strung, a lady's bow will have the string about five 
inches from the belly, and a gentleman's about half an inch 
more. The part opposite the handle is bound round with 
waxed silk, in order to prevent its being frayed by the 
arrow. As soon as a string becomes too soft and the fibers 
too straight, rub it with beeswax, and give it a few turns 
in the proper (Jirection, so as to shorten it, and twist its 
strands a little tighter. A spare string should always be 
provided by the shooter. 

The arrows are differently shaped by various makers, 
some being of nniform thickness throughout, while others 
are protuberant in the middle ; some, again, are larger at the 
point than at the feather-end. They are generally made of 
Avhite deal, with points of iron or brass riveted on ; but 
generally having a piece of heavy wood spliced on to the 
deal between it and the point, by which their flight is im- 
proved. At the other end a piece of horn is inserted in 



126 HOME AMU8EMENT8. 

•whicli is a notcli for the string. They are armed with three 
feathers, glued on, one of which is of a different color from 
the others, and is intended to mark the proper position 
of the arrow when placed on the string, this one always 
pointing from the bow. These feathers properly applied 
give a rotary motion to the arrow which causes its flight to 
be straight. They are generally from the wing of the tur- 
key or the goose. The length and weight of the arrows 
vary, the latter (in England) being marked in sterling sil- 
ver coin, and stamped on the arrow in plain figures. It is 
usual to paint a crest or a monogram or distinguishing 
rings on the arrow Just below the feathers, by which they 
may be known in shooting at the target. 

The quiver is merely a tin case painted green, intended 
for the security of the arrows when not in use. The pouch 
and belt are worn round the waist, the latter containing 
those arrows which are actually being shot. A pot to hold 
grease for touching the glove and string, and a tassel to 
wipe the arrows, are hung at the belt. The grease is com- 
posed of beef -suet and wax melted together. The arm is 
protected from the blow of the string by the brace, a broad 
guard of strong leather buckled on by two straps. A shoot- 
ing glove, also of thin tubes of leather, is attached to the 
wrist by three flat pieces ending in a circular strap buckled 
round it. This glove prevents that soreness of the fingers 
which soon comes on after using the bow without it. 

The target consists of a circular mat of straw, covered 
with canvas painted in a series of circles. It is usually from 
three feet six inches to four feet in diameter. The middle 
is about six or eight inches in diameter, gilt, and called the 
'^gold" ; the next is called the "^'red," after which comes 
the " inner white," then the '* black," and finally the 
"outer white." These targets are mounted on triangular 
stands at distances apart of from fifty to a hundred yards — 
sixty being the usual shooting distance. 



ARCEEEY. 127 

A scoring card is proyided with columns for eacli color, 
which, are marked with a pin. The usual score for a gold 
hit or the bull's-eye is 9 ; the red, 7 ; inner white, 6 ; 
black, 3 ; and outer white, 1. 

To bend the bow properly the bow should be taken by 
the handle in the right hand. Place one end on the ground, 
resting in the hollow of the right foot, keeping the flat side 
of the bow, called the back, toward your person. The left 
foot should be advanced a little, and the right placed so 
that the bow can not slip sideways. Place the heel of the 
left hand upon the upper limb of the bow, below the eye of 
the string. Now, while the fingers and thumb of the left 
hand slide this eye toward the notch in the horn, and the 
heel pushes the limb away from the body, the right hand 
pulls the handle toward the person, and thus resists the 
action of the left, by which the bow is bent ; and at the 
same time the string is slipped" into the nock, as the notch 
is termed. Take care to keep the three outer fingers free 
from the string, for if the bow should slip from the hand, 
and the string catch them, they will be seyerely pinched. 
If shooting in frosty weather, warm the bow before the fire, 
or by friction with a woolen cloth. If the bow has been 
lying by for a long time, it should be well rubbed with 
boiled linseed-oil before using it. 

To unstring the bow, hold it as in stringing, then 
press down the upper limb exactly as before, and as if you 
wished to place the eye of the string in a higher notch. 
This will loosen the string and liberate the eye, when it 
must be lifted out of the nock by the forefinger, and suf- 
fered to slip down the limb. 

Before using the bow, hold it in a perpendicular direc- 
tion with the string toward you, and see if the line of the 
string cuts the middle of the bow. If not, shift the eye 
and noose of the string to either side, so as to make the two 
lines coincide. This precaution prevents a very common 



128 EOME AMUSEMENTS. 

cause of defective shooting, which, is the result of an. uneven 
string throwing the arrow on one side. After using it, 
unstring it. V and. , at a large shooting party, unloose your 
bow after every round. Some bows get bent into very 
unmanageable shapes. 

- ■ The general management of the bow should be on the 
principle that damp injures it, and that any loose floating 
ends interfere with its shooting. It should, therefore, be 
kept well varnished, and in a waterproof case, and it should 
be carefully dried after shooting in damp weather. If there 
are any ends hanging from the string, cut them off close, 
and see that the whipping in the middle of the string 
is close and well fitting. The case should be hung up 
against a diy internal wall, not too near the fire. In select- 
ing your bow, be careful that it is not too strong for your 
power, and that you can draw the arrow to its head without 
any trembling of the hand. If this can not be done after 
a little practice, the bow should be changed for a weaker 
one. For no arrow will go true if it is discharged by a 
trembling hand. 

.,,■ If an arrow has been shot into the target or the ground, 
be particularly careful to withdraw it by laying hold close 
to its head, and by twisting it round as it is withdrawn in 
the direction of its axis. Without this precaution it may 
be easily bent br broken. 

: In shooting' at the target, the first thing is to nock the 
arrow ; that is, to place it properly on the string. In order 
to effect this, take the bow in the left hand, with the string 
toward you, the upper limb being toward the right. Hold 
it horizontally while you take the arrow by the middle, pass 
it on the under side Of the string and the upper side of the 
bow, till the head reaches two or three inches past the left 
hand. Hold it there with the forefinger or thumb while 
you remove the right hand down to the nock. Turn the 
arrow till the cock-feather comes uppermost, then pass it 



ARGEERY. 129 

down the bow, and fix it on the nocking part of the string. 
In doing this, all contact with the feathers should be 
avoided, unless they are rubbed out of place, when they 
may be smoothed down by passing them through the hand. 

The body should be at right angles with the target, but 
the face must be turned over the left shoulder, so as to be 
opposed to it. The feet are to be flat on the ground, with 
the heels a little apart, the left foot turned toward the 
mark. The head and chest inclined a little forward, so as 
to present a full bust, but not bent at all below the waist. 

Draw the arrow to the full length of the arm till the 
hand touches the shoulder, then take aim. The loosing 
should be quick, and the string must leave the fingers 
smartly and steadily. The bow-hand must be as firm as a 
vice — no trembling allowed. 

The rules of an Archery Club are usually these : 

That a "Lady Paramount" be annually elected. 

That there be a President, Secretary, and Treasurer. 

That all members intending to shoot shall appear in 
the uniform of the club. That a fine shall be imposed for 
non-attendance. 

That the Secretary shall send out cards at least a month 
before each day of meeting, acquainting the members with 
place and hour of meeting. 

That there shall be four prizes for each meeting — two 
for each sex ; the first for numbers, the second for hits ; 
and that no person shall be allowed to have both on the 
same day. A certain sum of money is voted to the Lady 
Paramount for prizes for each meeting. 

That in case of a tie for hits, numbers shall decide ; 
and in case of a tie for numbers, hits shall decide. 

That the decision of the Lady Paramount shall be final. 

That there shall be a challenge prize of the value of 

dollars, and that a commemorative ornament be presented 
to winners of the challenge prize. 



130 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

That the distance for shooting be sixty or one hundred 
yards, and that five-feet targets be used. 

The dress of the club to be decided by the Lady Para- 
mount. 

The expenses of archery are not great — about the same 
as lawn tennis — although a great many arrows are lost in 
the course of the season. Bows and other paraphernalia 
last a long time. Sides are chosen as at lawn tennis, and 
the game grows on one. The lady arcliers are apt to feel 
a little lame after the first two or three essays, but they 
should practice a short time every morning, and always in 
a loose waist or Jacket. It will be found a very healthy 
and strengthening pastime. 

We must not judge of the merits of ancient bowmen 
from the practice of archery in the present day. There are 
no such distances now assigned for the marks as we find 
mentioned in old histories or poetic legends, nor such pre- 
cision, even at short lengths, in the direction of the arrow. 

" The stranger he made no mickle ado, 

But he bent a right good bow, 
And the fattest of all the herd he slew, 

Forty good yards him fro ; 
' Well sTiot^ well shot,'' quoth Bolin Hoody 

Few, if any, modern archers in long shooting reach four 
hundred yards, or in shooting at a mark exceed eighty or a 
hundred. But archery has been since the invention of gun- 
powder only followed for pastime. It is decidedly the 
most graceful game which can be practiced, and the legends 
of Sherwood Forest, of Eobin Hood, Maid Marian, Little 
John, Friar Tuc£, and the Abbot carry us into the fragrant 
heart of the forest, and bring back memories which are 
agreeable to all people who have in them a drop of Saxon 
blood. 



XVIII. 

AMUSEMENTS FOR THE MIDDLE-AGED AND 
THE AGED. 

We can not but notice, as people go on in life — wlien, 
as Lord Mansfield said, ''The absence of pain is pleasure, 
just as in youth the absence of pleasure is pain " — that the 
quiet corner by the fire, or the seat at the library-table with 
the shaded lamp, and a quiet game or two when reading 
has fatigued the eyes, becomes almost necessary. 

Of all the means of cheating a succession of dull even- 
ings of their tedium, perhaps that little invention called 
a " Solitaire " board — which is simply a board pierced with 
thirty-seven holes, which are nearly filled with thirty-six 
pegs — has proved itself the most eminently successful. It 
was invented, it is said, by a French Jesuit, in Canada, 
to help him through the long Canadian winter evenings, 
and it has proved to be a boon to mankind. 

One peg takes another when it can leap over into an 
empty hole. To get all off but one peg is nearly impos- 
sible, but it can be done. 

Then comes " Merelles," or " Nine Men's Morris," which 
can be played on a board, or on the ground, but which 
finds itself reduced even to a parlor game. This, however, 
takes two players. 

"American Bagatelle," which can be played alone, or 
with an antagonist ; Chinese puzzles, which are infinitely 
amusing ; and all the great family of the sphinx known as 



132 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

puzzles — are of infinite service to the retired, quiet, lonely 
people for whom the active business of life is at an end. 
The guessing of arithmetical puzzles, the solution of enig- 
mas, and the solution of a paradox — these amuse many an 
evening. 

We may give one of these old things as an example. It 
is called '* The Blind Abbot and his Monks," and is played 
with counters. Arrange eight external cells of a square so 
that there may always be nine in each row, though the 
whole number may vary from eighteen to thirty-six. 

A convent in which there were nine cells was occupied 
by a blind abbot and twenty-four monks, the abbot lodg- 
ing in the center cell, and the monks in the side cells, three 
in each, giving a row of nine persons on each side of the 
building. The abbot, suspecting the fidelity of his breth- 
ren, often went out at night and counted them, and when 
he found nine in each row the old man counted his beads, 
said au Ave ! and went to bed contented. The monks, 
taking advantage of his failing sight, contrived to deceive 
him, so that four could go out nightly, yet leave nine in a 
row. How did they do it ? 

The next night, emboldened by success, the monks re- 
turned with four visitors and then arranged them nine in 
a row. The next night they brought in four more belated 
brethren, and again arranged them nine in a row ; and 
again four more. Finally, when the twelve clandestine 
brothers had departed, and six monks with them, the re- 
mainder deceived the abbot again by presenting a row of 
nine. Try it with the counters, and see how they so abused 
the privileges of a conventual seclusion. 

Then try quibbles — ''How can I get wine out of a bot- 
tle if I have no corkscrew, and must not break the glass 
or make any hole in it or the cork ? " 

The telling of a good story well should be encouraged. 
The raconteur can be the most delightful of all house- 



AMUSEMENTS FOR THE MIDLLE-AaEB. 133 

hold blessings, A motlier who can tell a story well by the 
nursery fire is a potent force ; and the one who will light 
up the winter evening by telling stories of adventures — the 
simplest every-day ones in the street — the little journey, 
even the round of, shopping, becomes very much of a trea- 
sure. Some ladies commit to memory the stories of Hans 
Christian Andersen; Grimm, the fairy-story maker; Charles 
Kingsley's short stories, Ouida's "A Dog of Flanders," or 
the poems of Dr. Holmes, or some other benefactor of 
mankind, and tell these stories and poems in a sort of un- 
premeditated way by the library-table. This is a charming 
accomplishment. Some people have the gift of improvis- 
ing, and will tell a very good bit of ghost story in a very 
gruesome manner for the entertainment of those who enjoy 
the night side of nature. 

But this talent should never be abused. The man who 
in cold blood fires off a long poetical quotation at a dinner, 
or makes a speech in defiance of the goose-flesh which is 
creeping down his neighbors' backs, is a traitor to honor 
and religion, and he deserves the death of a Nihilist. It 
is only when these extempore talents can be used without 
alarming people that they are useful or endurable. 

We might make our Christmas holidays a little more 
gay in this country. We might read and study up all the 
old English and the German customs, beyond the mistle- 
toe, the tree, and the rather faded legend of Santa Claus. 
There are worlds of legendary lore which would help us to 
make this time-honored festival even more lively and gay 
and amusing than it is. We have not yet reached -the Eng- 
lish jollity at Christmas. 

The supper-table has, as an American home festival, 
rather fallen into desuetude. We sup out, but rarely have 
that informal and delightful meal which once wound up 
every evening devoted to Home Amusement. Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Montague, in her delightful letters, talks about the 



134 ROME AMUSEMENTS. 

''whisk and the quadrille parties with a light supper" 
which amused the ladies of her day. We still have the 
",whisk/' but what has become of lansquenet, quadrille, 
basset, and piquet, those pretty and courtly games ? 

Playing-cards made their way throjigh Arabia from 
India to Europe, where they first arrived about the year 
1370. They carried with them the two arts, engraving and 
painting. They were the avants coureurs of engraving on 
wood and metal, and of printing. 

Cards early began to be the luxuries of kings and queens, 
the necessity of the gambler, and the consolation of those 
who innocently like games. Piquet, a courtly game, was 
invented by Etienne Vignoles, called La Hire, one of the 
most active soldiers of the reign of Charles VII. This 
brave soldier was an accomplished chevalier, deeply imbued 
with a reverence for the manners and customs of chivalry. 
Cards continued from this time to follow the whim of the 
court and to assume the character of the period through 
the regency of Marie de Medicis, in the time of Anne of 
Austria and of Louis XIV. The Germans are the first peo- 
ple who essayed to make a pack of cards assume the form 
of a scholastic treatise. The king, queen, knight, and 
knave iQ)i\ of English manners, customs, and nomenclature. 



XIX. 

THE PAELOE. 

That is a poorly-furnished parlor, think some people, 
which has not a chess-table in one corner, a whist-table in 
the middle, and a little solitaire-table at the other end near 
the fire, for grandma . People who are fond of games stock 
their table drawers with cribbage boards and backgammon, 
cards of every variety, bezique counters and packs, and the 
red and white champions of the hard-fought battlefield of 
chess. 

Mrs. Frances Anne Kemble, one of the most gifted of 
women — whose recollections would, one would think, be 
the most attractive book which one could read — is devoted 
to card solitaire. Every evening she describes herself as 
spending an hour or two over these combinations. This is 
not to be confused with the game of peg solitaire. 

Whist ! Who shall pretend to describe its attractions? 
What a relief it is to the tired man of business who has 
been fighting the world all day, to the woman who has no 
longer any part in the gay and glittering pageant of so- 
ciety ! what pleasure in its regulated, shifting fortunes ! 
We all have seen that holding the cards — even the highest 
ones — does not always win the game. We have noticed 
that with a poor hand somebody wins fame, success, happi- 
ness. We feel the injustice of that long suit which has 
baffled our best endeavors. Whist is a parody on life ; we 
play our own experience over again in its faithless kings 



136 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

and queens. The knave is apt to trip us up on the green 
cloth as on the street. We are simply playing the real over 
in shadow. 

The great passion for gambling is no doubt behind even 
the game of Boston, played for beans. We all like to ac- 
cumulate, to believe that we are Fortune's favorite. What 
matter if it be only a few more beans than one's neighbor ? 
The principle remains the same. 

So long as cards do not lead to gambling, they are inno- 
cent enough. Indeed, they are a priceless boon to eyes 
which can no longer see to read ; to those who must get rid 
of time ; to those who are ill, weary, or unfortunate. We 
always wonder at seeing the young take to them ; it seems 
as if they could do so much better ; but the sight of a par- 
lor, warm, well lighted, with its games going on in every 
corner, is not a disagreeable one. Especially should the 
young ladies of the family look to this arrangement, and 
see that everything is comfortable for papa's game of whist, 
bezique, or cribbage. They do not know how great a ne- 
cessity it may be to him — what a relief, what a consola- 
tion ! 

As for Chess, the devotee of this heavy, remorseless 
game has no further need of our help or sympathy. To 
any one who likes to puzzle his brain over the fantastic 
skips of the Knight or the prodigious descent of the Castle, 
we can offer no suggestions except that he may be left un- 
disturbed. 

As for Music, one can hardly say anything which has 
not been said about its transcendent powers in assisting at 
every Home Amusement. The family circle which has 
learned three or four instruments, the brothers who can 
sing part songs, are to be envied. They can never suffer 
from a dull evening. Even the musical absurdities of 
Kindergarten choruses are to be commended, and the Ger- 
man mimicry of all the instruments. What a blessing to a 



TEE PARLOR. 13T 

family is the man who can sing comic songs, and who also 
does not sing them too often ! 

It is well, where it can be done easily, to allow young 
boys to sing in church choirs ; to train their voices, and 
be with musical people ; to learn choruses, chants, etc. 
In that way Arthur Sullivan began, that benefactor of his 
species, the author of "Pinafore." What has not ''Pina- 
fore" done to help along the musical education of our 
young people ? How it has been sung in country towns ! 
How church choirs have taken it up ! How popular, inno- 
cent, sweet it is ! 

Now, in our musical home training we may not make an 
Arthur Sullivan, but we shall certainly add to the sum of 
innocent enjoyment ; and it is a delightful fact that if there 
are six or seven children in a family, one of them is apt to 
have a good voice, one a talent for the piano, and generally 
all can be taught to play and sing a little. Sometimes 
there are rarely gifted, great musical organizations in all 
the sons and daughters, which is a supreme blessing. For 
there is not only Home Amusement in it, but a certainty 
of making a good living, if fortune frowns and makes work 
necessary. 

The only deep shadow to the musical picture is the 
necessity of practicing, which is not a Home Amusement ; 
it is a home torture. If only a person could learn to play 
or sing without those dreadful first noises and those hide- 
ous shrieks ! But, since these are not to be avoided, some 
one in the family must have the tact to arrange them well, 
and to have the hours of the various students so placed that 
there need not be a perpetual tinkle-tinkle, or something 
worse. 

The season of early spring and summer ! Oh ! what 
.sounds come through the first open casement ! How dread- 
ful is that appoggiatura ! how fearful that badly-played 
waltz ! Is it possible that yon violinist will ever be Mau- 



.138 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

rice Dengremont ? And yet it is by these hard chromatic 
steps that all have mounted the heavenly stairs of melody. 

No young lady should sing in public — that is, before a 
party of friends — until she can sing well. In these days, 
when amateur cultivation has reached a high point, let 
everybody say to herself, " Am I sufficiently advanced to 
give pleasure by my singing ? " and let her modestly abstain 
from singing if she finds that, after hearing her once, her 
friends do not press her to sing again. There is, perhaps, 
nothing so foolish as for a woman to persist in singing in 
her own parlor when she is not a thoroughly good vocalist. 
No one can get away from her there. They must suffer. 
Still, if birds can sing, they should sing. Nothing is more 
disagreeable than to have to urge a person to sing. The 
possessor of a voice is always a very rare and much to be 
envied person, and a certain amiability in singing becomes 
such a person very much. 

All young ladies who have been taught the piano should 
have some pieces learned, and be able to play for the amuse- 
ment of the home circle. Especially should they be able 
to play for dancing. A few waltzes are very convenient. 
They often help off a dull evening wonderfully. The per- 
son who plays should be willing occasionally to be made 
use of. Are we not all made use of at times ? Is not the 
good talker in perpetual request ? The raconteuse — is she 
not begged to tell that story over and over again ? Does 
not the wit find himself invited out to dinner to amuse the 
company ? And are they not all, if amiable, glad to per- 
form their part ? Surely the pianist should be as amiable ! 

Reading aloud is one of the most common of Home 
Amusements, and one of the best. It is a pity, however, 
that our women, especially, do not cultivate elocution a 
little, so that they may read aloud intelligently. There 
is no prettier accomplishment. A lady at a watering- 
place, who can read a poem or story well, is always sur- 



TEE PARLOE. 139 

rounded. The sweet voice, tlie correct accent, the air of 
intelligence — all give the author a great help, and Longfel- 
low never wrote a prettier stanza than this : 

" Then read from tbe favored volume 
The poem of thy choice, 
And lend to the rhyme of the poet 
The music of thy voice." 

But, when the favored volume and the poem have to be 
filtered through a nasal accent and an uneducated drawl, 
we feel that the poet has been vilified, and his gold and 
silver turns to dross. Every woman especially should re- 
member the fable of the girl whose lips dropped pearls and 
diamonds, who was so much more agreeable as a friend and 
acquaintance than that other damsel whose lips dropped 
toads and vipers. The latter, evidently, had never taken 
lessons in elocution. 

We have a certain national vice in pronunciation and 
in accent which we ought to correct. A moment's listening 
to the English accent will soon teach us to pronounce with 
a more melodious finish. We need not hug ourselves with 
any vainglorious national conceit. We do not speak as well 
as our English cousins. 



XX. 

THE KITCHEN. 

"We began at the garret, and we are now at the kitchen. 
So our readers may learn that we are on the home-stretch, 
and shall be through very soon. If we have wearied them, 
let them bear with us but a little longer, and then, on our 
faithful steed, whom they shall find at the kitchen door, 
they shall ride off and neyer be troubled with us any more. 

A model kitchen is every housekeeper's delight. In 
these days of tiles and modern improvement, what pretty 
things kitchens are ! 

The modern dairy, with its upright milk-pans, in which 
the cream is marked off by a neat little thermometer ; the 
fire-brick floor ; the exquisite range, with its polished lat- 
terie de cuisine ; every brilliant brass saucepan, seeming to 
say, " Come and cook in me " ; every porcelain -lined pan 
urging upon one the necessity of stewing nectarines in 
white sugar ; every bright can suggesting the word " con- 
serve," which always makes the mouth water ; every clatter 
of the skewers, saying, " Dainty dishes, dainty dishes, come 
and make me ! Come and make me ! " All this is quite 
fascinating to an amateur. 

ISTo pretty woman — did she but know it — is ever half so 
pretty as when she is playing cook. The clean, white apron, 
the neat, short cambric dress, the little cap, the fair bare 
arms — does the reader remember Euth Pinch and the beef- 
steak-pie ? A lady should make the desserts in summer 



THE KITCHEN'. 141 

sometimes. Such ice-cream, such glorified Charlotte Eusse, 
such cakes, such delicate apple-pies, such creams and jellies 
as fall from a lady's fingers — these are ambrosial food ! 

There is among certain women a great passion for the 
cleanly part of household work. The love of a dairy has 
grown to be a favorite task with many a duchess. In our 
country, where ladies are compelled to put a hand, per- 
haps once too often, to the household work, owing to the 
inefficiency of the servants, this is not ordinarily considered 
the most thoroughly amusing of Home Amusements. To 
cook a heavy dinner in warm weather, to wash dishes after- 
ward — this is sober prose, and by a very dull author. But 
the poetry of house-work, the rose hue o'er our russet cares 
— this can be classed as a Home Amusement. 

In the early morning we can imag^ine a lady going into 
her neat kitchen to prepare the desserts for the day, and 
finding it very agreeable. She will set her well-flavored 
custard away in. the ice-chest with a serene knowledge of 
how good it will be at dinner, and place her compote of 
pears securely on a high shelf, away from that ubiquitous 
visitor the cat, who has in most families so remarkable and 
irrepressible an appetite. She can take a turn at the milk- 
pan, and skim off the cream herself if she pleases. It 
will be much thicker if she does. It is a not unpleasant 
duty to steal into the kitchen ten minutes before dinner, to 
see to it that the roast birds are garnished with water- 
cresses, that the vegetables are properly prepared, that the 
silver dishes are without a smear. All this sort of atten- 
tion makes good servants, and very good dinners. 

It is often one of the Home Amusements for a party of 
girls to try their hand at clear-starching. Statira, indeed, 
does not like this ; but they should learn to flute their own 
ruffles. Who knows but they may marry an army officer, 
and go to Nebraska ? 

All sorts of fine washing and ironing, all sorts of doing 



142 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

up of lace, of renovating old silks, etc., may be made into 
Home Amusements, if done cheerfully, and in the right 
spirit. The modern embroidery requiring pressing, the 
many modern accomplishments of lace-making, applique, 
etc., lead a young lady into the kitchen, and she can de- 
rive a vast deal of amusement from this room, if she 
chooses. 

One of the holiest of duties is to learn how to cook for 
the sick. This requires a great deal of patient talent, and 
it is a sufficient reward if we can see the beloved convales- 
cent tasting our arrowroot and sago, and good beef-tea and 
jelly, with approbation. 

Among Home Amusements, how many reckon the Jolly 
party assembled to make the wedding-cake ? Susan and 
Sarah shall stone the raisins, Charlotte and Clara shall 
beat the eggs, Louisa shall slice the citron, Matilda, who 
has a judicial mind, shall weigh ! Then all shall stir, and 
who shall be the one to get the ring ? 

The baking is momentous. Mamma had better be 
consulted here. And then the great question of the icing ! 
Oh ! how anxious ! The mince-pies require another season 
of deep thought and much very stringent stirring. The 
excellent brandy, the dash of orange cura9oa, must be 
poured out by the lady, else why is it that ever after the 
mince-pie seems to lack that inspiriting and hidden, fire ? 
We read that there is many a slip between the cup and the 
lip! 

The modern elegant devices by which strawberries, vio- 
lets, and orange-blossoms are candied in sugar, efEect a Home 
Amusement for dainty-fingered girls ; and since the estab- 
lishment in Boston of a cooking club, at which each young 
lady is to contribute some article of her own cooking, we 
see signs of a revival in all branches of the great art of 
cookery which is most encouraging. It was a notable old 
maxim among Puritan mothers that every wife should 



THE KITGEEN. 143 

know how to make bread, and, perhaps, it has not died out 
yet. 

Looking at the subject broadly, every thoroughly accom- 
plished woman should know how to do everything, from 
making a soup up to a cup of tea — the Alpha and the Ome- 
ga of cookery. 

In the matter of flavoring, the colored race have us at 
a great disadvantage. Any old colored cook can distance 
her white ''Missus" here. This highly-gifted race seem to 
have a sixth sense on the subject of flavors. The rich 
tropical nature breaks out in reminiscences of orange-blos- 
soms, pineapple, guava, cocoanut, and Mandarin orange. 
Never can the descendants of the poor, half-starved, fro- 
zen exiles of Plymouth Eock hope to achieve such custards 
and puddings as these Ethiops turn out. And as to the 
juicyness of their fried oysters and their inimitable terra- 
pin, who has ever approached them ? It is as if a luxurious 
and tasteful, beneficent power had left us, when we were 
given what we proudly call a ''higher intelligence." Who 
would not exchange all the cold mathematical supremacy 
in which we glory for that luscious gift of making pies and 
puddings a ravir f 



XXI. 

THE FAMILY HOESE, AND OTHEE PETS. 

STANDiiq-G at the kitclien door, all ready for the most 
timorous to drive, is the most important minister to the 
Home Amusements — the family horse. He is a beast of 
burden, no doubt. There is but little Arab steed left in 
him, if, indeed, there ever was much. He is a plodder, a 
patient, much put-upon beast. The boys can harness him, 
the girls can drive him. He is allowed to take out grand- 
ma — when she consents to be driven, and isn't afraid of the 
railroad train, and does not think that it is going to rain. 
The baby, when he takes his first adventurous journey down 
the village street, is put in state and in blankets behind the 
family horse. No one is afraid of Blossom. No one likes 
to whip him, because if he were whipped, what antics he 
might give way to ! 

Blossom is an exceedingly inappropriate name. Dried 
Leaf would be far more descriptive. Still Blossom is ad- 
hered to, because the suggestion that he was once young, 
and that really he is frisky, in his silent way, is still a 
delightful legend in the family. 

Blossom, who is an intelligent old beast, knows perfectly 
well how utterly weak and imbecile the whole family are 
about him. So he will never do anything but walk and 
trot very gently, because he knows that no one dares to 
whip him. Once a young cousin, who had none of the 
family reverence for Blossom, did give him a few cuts on 



THE FAMILY EOBSE, A¥D OTHER PETS. 145 

his exceedingly smooth, fat sides. Blossom had the pres- 
ence of mind to stand up on his hind legs, frightening 
mamma nearly to death ; and she mentioned, in Blossom's 
hearing, that " he never was to he whipped again, because 
he really had a great deal of fire in him, and would not 
brook whip or spur ! " 

''I remember, dear," she says, "your father says that 
he heard, when he bought him, that he came of very proud 
stock." 

It has been noticed that when papa wishes to catch the 
train Blossom can go as fast as anybody. 

Blossom is a great pet, and he has that instinct of a good 
family horse — he stops when anything is wrong. Once, 
when the harness broke, Blossom, instead of running, 
stopped short, and saved the lives of the whole family. He 
has a quick ear for a coming railway train, and never has 
balked going up hill. The girls feed him with sugar, and 
take their first ride on his dear, safe, hard old back. The 
boys have had imaginary jousts with neighboring knights, 
urging him in the lists. He has been put through all the 
sports of the middle ages, has Blossom, and probably he dis- 
trusts the institution of chivalry. Still, he likes the boys, 
and does all that a phlegmatic temperament and an indom- 
itable laziness will allow in the way of a sjsirited and im- 
pulsive charge. 

There are persons whom Blossom dislikes ; one is the 
spinster sister, Miss Caroline, who drives him with many a 
whirrup, and "get up," and "g'lang," and has a nervous 
twitch to her hand, and a distrustful and uncertain temper 
with the whip. Miss Caroline nags Blossom, as she has 
nagged everything and everybody all her life, and Blossom 
resents her absence of repose and confidence by starting 
wildly to right and left as he goes down the village street, 
appearing to make for a distant fence when she is endeavor- 
ing to guide his nose toward the gate of the parsonage. 



146 EOME AMUSEMENTS. 

Indeed, the village wit says that if he sees only the back of 
the family carriage he can tell that Miss Caroline is driving, 
as he watches that respected vehicle describing parabolas 
and angles as it wobbles down the street. 

When mamma drives. Blossom goes in a slow, stately, 
but dignified manner, and, although he imposes upon her 
good-nature, and does not put forth any mile-in-three- 
minutes style, yet he shows a due respect for himself and 
her. When the girls drive him, he, feeling through the 
reins a little of the ichor of their young blood, becomes 
almost vivacious, and goes almost half as fast as he can go. 
When papa drives, he feels a strong hand behind him, and 
actually gets there. 

Every family should have as many animals as possible. 
Dogs of every breed and variety — especially big ones, and 
good ones, like mastiffs and Newfoundlands, and a few little 
ones to play with. Cats and kittens, if they like them, 
rabbits, goats, pigeons, lambs, peacocks, etc., and as much 
live-stock as can be accommodated about the ]3lace should 
be there. These four-footed friends, especially dogs, are 
indispensable in the country. What attachments one forms 
for them ! How dreary the hour when they die ! Perhaps, 
then, we wish that they had not been so intimate, so dear, 
so loving, so trustful. The walk, the ramble, the quiet 
seat on the piazza — all, all must be endeared by the silent 
friendship of the dogs. 

There is sometimes a want of harmony among the pets. 
Carlo must be shut up while Flirt is at large, and the par- 
rot must be kept away from the pigeons. The parrot can 
take care of herself as to the cats ; but how about the ca- 
naries and the blackcap ? Eternal vigilance is the price 
of liberty, and the only safety of slavery. 

And yet these enforced duties : do they not fit the boys 
for the cares of government ? Do they not tell the future 
politician what he is to do ? Are they not, after all, a part 



TEE FAMILY HORSE, AITD OTHER PETS. 147 

of that great education wliich Home, and only Home, can 
give us ? 

We shall have few friends so faithful as Blossom, few 
who will impose upon us so gently, and who will really im- 
pose upon us to our advantage. We shall have few such 
friends as Carlo and Flirt, who love us, faults and all ; who 
never ask what wrong we have committed, or how un- 
worthy "we are, but who are, without doubt, the most flat- 
tering of worshipers, loving us simply because we are our- 
selves. How few love us for that, and that alone ! 



XXII. 

m CONCLUSION. 

In looking over our list of Home Amusements — the 
priyate theatricals, the tableaux viyants, the brain games, 
the fortune-telling, the making of screens, the painting of 
fans, etc. ; the games at cards, the etching, the lawn ten- 
nis, the dancing, the garden party, the window gardens, 
the birds, the picnics, the plaque-painting, the archery, 
the parlor and the kitchen — we can only feel how much we 
have left out. Why have we not spoken more fully of the 
library, with its quiet and respectable arm-chairs, its green 
table, its shelves filled with those silent friends who never 
desert us, its paper-cutter, its wood-fire, its latest magazine, 
its quiet, and the heavy curtain dropped at evening ? How 
did we happen to so slight this delightful room, wherein so 
many of the best amusements of home are always arranging 
themselves ? Perhaps because the story told itself, and we 
did not need to tell it. 

How could we have forgotten the quest for green apples 
and choke-cherries in the spring, or the subsequent repent- 
ance ? the bird-snaring and nesting ? and in summer the 
search for wild flowers ? the attempts at making an her- 
barium ? the berry-picking ? the nutting in the fall ? that 
cracking of butternuts by the winter fire ? that arrange- 
ment of the autumn-leaves ? 

Simply because the record of Home Amusements is end- 
less. It is almost all of life which is worth remembering. 



IN GONGLUSION. 149 

But we can not leaye the reader here, particularly if 
that kindly personage be a young lady, without congratu- 
lating her upon the age in which she exists. She finds vastly 
more to amuse her in her home-life than her mother or 
her grandmother did before her. They were content to 
receive once a month " The Lady's Book," with a few hints 
as to lace-work, worsted- work, patterns for the embroider- 
ing of slippers or sofa-cushions. A new suggestion for em- 
broidery on white cambric, or, through a friend in some 
great mart of fashion, the cut pattern of an article of 
dress — think of that, ye who get the fashions by telegraph. 
Dress itself was a crude thing compared to what it is now. 
There was not even at Newport the slightest approximation 
to the luxury of to-day. A "London-made" habit, for 
instance, was almost unknown. There was no " riding to 
hounds," no skating rink, no casino ; there were quiet din- 
ners, and very many '' Germans," but they were conducted 
inexpensively, at the hotels almost universally. 

Of course, New York and Philadelphia, Boston and 
Washington, offered an exciting life to the prominent and 
fashionable women of the day for a few weeks of the season. 
But the long life at home of the rank and file, the severe 
winters, during whose rigors the ardent and ambitious and 
pleasure-loving were shut up for months behind four dreary 
walls, were not illumined by patterns of artistic fancy-work 
from South Kensington, or by the delightful knowledge 
of china painting. No ingenious boy or girl thought of 
cutting or carving in wood beyond the vulgar whittling, 
which all good housekeepers condemned. The elderly lady 
sat about with her knitting — very plain knitting at that. 
The crochet-needle had not then begun that endless chain 
which has since united our vast continent in a network of 
elaborate tidies, and covered our babies with delicate flannel 
Josies, or given us, for the head and neck, the softest of 
wraps. The sewing-machine had not begun its prodigious 



150 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

marcli down our long seams. People did much "plain 
sewing," but knew not of artistic curtains made of cheese- 
cloth, or of unbleached muslin elaborated into Roman 
scarfs — a singular marriage, by the way, of Lowell and its 
looms with the Eternal City, all of which they know now. 

Young ladies had not then been taught to draw and 
paint artistically, sincerely, as they are taught to-day. The 
education in music was infinitely less thorough. It was an 
age when the person who aspired to the accomplishments 
had much to contend against. There were but few rail- 
roads which penetrated to the remote villages ; and it must 
be confessed that life had its dull evenings. 

But around the one astral lamp which then shed its 
uncertain rays upon the family circle there were the same 
elements of which human society is now composed, and 
there was one amusement present whose absence we now 
sometimes have to regret. We refer to that lost art of con- 
versation which has, it would seem, departed from our^busy 
last half of the nineteenth century. Indeed, it has left the 
whole world, if we can believe Cornelius O'Dowd, Mrs. 
Stowe, and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, and even some French 
writers. Mrs. Stowe, in one of her books of early New 
England life, referring to the art of conversation, speaks 
feelingly of the change. Young ladies were driven by the 
very dullness of their lives to be readers of good books. 
There were many admirable historical scholars and Shake- 
speareans among the New England girls of a past genera- 
tion. They read Milton and John Bunyan, and the early 
essayists and poets. Their novels had been written for 
them by Walter Scott and Miss Austen, and they were an 
education in themselves. 

And conversation, such as we do not hear often, lighted 
up those long winter evenings. Perhaps, too, this very 
quiet and dullness was helping to forge the armor of some 
heroine who was to take her part in civilizing the West.. 



m conclusion: 151 

Certainly it made some great women. However, as we take 
account of what little we may have lost, we are very grate- 
ful for all we have gained. Our present civilization rubs 
out individuality, no doubt. Life is smothered in appli- 
ances. 

What is -called the higher education of women, and the 
very superior culture now possible, may not have yet made 
a race of good talkers, but it has undoubtedly made an 
army of thinkers. 

It certainly has helped to fill the country with refined 
and happy girls, who have no reason to complain of repres- 
sion. It would seem almost impossible to find now the re- 
pressed, morbid, undeveloped, and crushed natures which 
a gloomy religion and a lingering of Puritan prejudice made 
almost too common in early 'New England. Many of those 
women still live, and have found expression in literature 
to tell us how devoid their homes were of amusement. 

The world is not filled with geniuses, or with those for- 
tunate people who can evolve an amusing life from out of 
the depths of their inner consciousness. We may, there- 
fore, be very grateful for every innocent amusement. In- 
deed, we may be very grateful that amateur concerts, little 
operettas, cantatas, musical clubs, are now common, and 
that the performers, young ladies of all ranks and classes, 
are admirably trained in music ; that in decorative art in- 
dustries they are no longer novices, but deserving of the 
higher name of artist. 

All these better developments of the mind and power of 
each inmate can not but render home interesting, gay, 
cheerful, happy, blessed. 

And all the Home Amusements should be made, or 
studied to be made, the amusements of the whole. 

No pursuit or pleasure can be carried on in the best 
spirit without being in some measure unselfish if it con- 
duces to the amusement of home. Thus the indulgence of 



152 HOME AMUSEMENTS. 

a favorite taste may have the beauty of philanthropy in it, 
if it is made to help along the cheerfulness of home. 

There are some trades which are solitary and exclusive. 
Authorship is one of these ; and perhaps the author is not 
always a very amusing inmate. But the actor in the pri- 
vate play, the clever and ready wit who makes the charade 
lively, the musician, the embroideress, the fortune-teller, 
the good partner at whist, the clever amateur cook, and 
the artistic member — these can all add to Home Amuse- 
ments. 



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CONTENTS: 
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Theatre Parties, Private Theatricals, and Musicales ; Extended Visits ; 
Customs and Costumes at Theatres, Concerts, and Operas (being two ad- 
ditional chapters written for this edition) ; Etiquette of Weddings (re- 
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